


Cradles in the Sand

by NovaAlexandria



Category: Bleach
Genre: AdjucusformGrimmjow, AdjucusformStarrk, Complete, Cubs, Deaths, F/M, Forced Pregnancy, Pregnancy, Rape, Slavery, Unplanned Pregnancy, vandervich
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:15:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 74,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23948281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NovaAlexandria/pseuds/NovaAlexandria
Summary: When Karin is tossed into a pit to be eaten by hollows as some sort of sick sport, she is surprised to discover the one chosen to eat her is familiar with her older brother. For Grimmjow, lunch becomes a rather unexpected ally.
Relationships: Grimmjow Jaegerjaques/Kurosaki Karin, Ise Nanao/Coyote Starrk
Comments: 40
Kudos: 131





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, it's me, thinking about posting my work over here as well. I also would like to clean up the first half of Prize of Victory as it's really bad before Black Fox came to my rescue and taught me so much. We'll see. It's also kind of horrifying to realize that Midsummer's Eve is coming up on it's 20th anniversary and my first ever posted story is in desperate need of clean up.

She was pushed and prodded down the sandstone corridor, her escort being non-to-gentle. Her body ached dully from the thrashing it had taken during her capture, and she was likely to be covered in bruises in a few hours, but otherwise she had no serious injuries. Bruises sucked, but they were rather unlikely to kill anyone.

_Admittedly, it wasn’t like it was hard for him to capture me, she thought sourly. _Bloody Quincy bastards. Their gripe is with Soul Society and Shinigami. I don’t see why they bothered to pay attention to a human like myself just defending herself and her friends from blood thirsty hollows. Bloody hypocrites,_ she growled to herself._

“Keep moving,” the man behind her snarled, giving her another shove that almost sent her to her knees this time. She stumbled, but managed to recover before going down. She tugged at the ropes of energy binding her wrist behind her back, but the damn things moved with her motions and showed no sign of loosening or breaking.

“You push me one more time and I am going to kick you so damn hard where the sun doesn’t shine that your decedents won’t be able to have properly formed brats,” she snarled at him, turning to give him a glare that actually gave him pause. No one knew how to glare like a Kurosaki. Tougher men than this one had quailed before that look.

The man recovered quickly, but only after clutching his spear and eyeing her bound wrists before laughing at her. “In a few minutes, you are going to be nothing more than a smear of blood on the sand,” he taunted while giving her another push, causing her to stumble backwards.

 _I swear to Kami, if my hands were not tied behind my back, I would deck the bastard into the next century!_ The rest of her thoughts were far more violent and contained a fair bit of foul cursing that would have had Yuzu staring at her with that stern gaze that made even hardened men blush with embarrassment and duck their head meekly.

There was a growing commotion ahead of her as they moved down the plain, sandstone corridor. The sounds were similar to the ones heard in stadiums, like the ones she’d visited to watch soccer games back when life had been far less complicated. Unlike those cheers, these ones managed sounded a bit more blood thirsty to her ears for some reason, which was impressive giving how passionate some people took the sport. A bright light appeared at the end of the corridor she was being prodded along. The noise grew louder until it was almost deafening. She squinted her eyes as she was pushed through the doorway into what appeared to be a coliseum. The sun from above had no heat or weight to it and the ‘sky’ was too uniform of a colour for her to believe it was real. In fact, it reminded her very much of Kisuke’s training grounds under his shop.

 _Fake roof. That would explain the light. I remember Ichi-nii and Orihime-chan commenting on the false sky of Las Noches. That explains how we went from the dark skies of Hueco Mundo to a suddenly sunlit coliseum. This can’t be Las Noches though. Last I heard Ichi-nii and the others still held that city and I am sure Ise-san would have mentioned it if they had lost it. A defeat that big couldn’t be hidden, it would be betrayed by their very posture and attitude. Orihime, in particular, really sucks at hiding things and Nel doesn’t ever bother. The old man could take a lesson from her book,_ she thought sourly.

She was in a coliseum, one taken right from the pictures she’d seen in the chapters about the Roman Empire in her history books. The crowd was full of white clad Quincy wearing their uniforms interspaced with those wearing other colours; although they were all pale ones. Civilians most likely, or possibly other support units of the military such as cooks, blacksmiths and the like. There was a large, shaded balcony across from her. The light fell in such a way that it was shrouded in darkness, preventing her from seeing if it was occupied, let alone by whom.

“And for today’s last form of entertainment; a spiritually aware human from Kurakara town. Let’s see if she can last any longer than the black clad fools who still dare to oppose his Majesty’s will.”

She couldn’t spot the announcer from her position, nor was it anywhere near the top of her list of concerns. The crowd roared as she was roughly shoved toward the edge of the pit and out onto the plank that rested out over it. All around the boarder she could see bars, but the bright artificial light from above cast the cages in shadow just like the covered booth, making it impossible to see what was inside of them. With one more violent shove, she found herself flailing through the air into the pit from the edge of the plank. The restraints around her wrists vanished halfway down and she managed to land in a semi-roll so she didn’t break her wrists or ankles upon impact with the fine, white sand. She felt her control over her reiatsu also vanish at the same time as the restraints, which was what truly pulled the foul curses out of her lips as she quickly scrambled to her feet and fell into the defensive stance Tatsuki had hammered into her over the last decade.

The sand in the pit was relatively clean, but there were a few wet spots she really didn’t want to get close enough to examine. Several uneven spots had what looked like fresh bones sticking out, still glistening and bloodstained. The light was still too bright to see what was in the cages, but she had a sickening feeling she was going to find out all too soon.

The sound of bars scraping against rock caused her to whip around to face the set that was slowly rising. Ignoring the minor aches she had acquired from both her capture and the fall, she shifted her defensive stance to face the oncoming threat and prayed she wasn’t about to find herself facing down several man-eating lions or something.

 _Well, that isn’t a lion, but close enough,_ she thought as the bone white feline, easily larger than any tiger she’d ever seen in a zoo, prowled out of its cage in a lazy manner and began to circle her. The hole going through its back assured her she was facing a hollow, and judging by the intelligent glint in its bright blue eyes, this was hardly some low level hollow either. _Meaning I am probably facing an Adjucus. Fuck. Well if I have no reiatsu down here, then it probably doesn’t either. That means no cero or hierro, so it’s a matter of my fist and feet verses its razor-sharp claws and fangs. Oh yeah, this is going to end well,_ she thought sarcastically.

She shifted her footing to keep the stalking feline before her, studying it as it studied her. It seemed in no rush to attack her, at least not yet, and each step was solid and sure. She could detect no weaknesses or injuries she might be able to exploit.

 _What kind of feline is it anyhow? Not a lion and the shape isn’t right enough to be a tiger or a cheetah. Jaguar or leopard perhaps? Not that there is much of a difference between the two save for which side of the ocean they ended up on._ The thought tugged something in her mind, but she lost the thought as the hollow finally charged at her. She leaped to the right and spun about, kicking it in the side and barely avoiding the flurry of claws and fangs as they passed each other. The crowd above them cheered and she wished she could spare a second to scowl hatefully up at them and tell them just what she thought about this disgusting display.

The two of them reset their stance and the circle stalking began anew. Several more times the jaguar-like hollow charged her. She earned a good number of cuts from those sharp claws, but at least she managed to keep its fangs away from her. The crowd cheered louder as her blood added more dark spots to the sand. The next pass had her catch sight of the hollow’s sex as she rolled out of the way of the slashing claws.

 _Well, this is only slowing my inevitable death down,_ she thought sourly. _Why does he keep rotating in the same direction? No matter how each pass ends, he always stalks counter clockwise._

She shifted her weight and almost tripped as something under her foot rolled. The hollow charged her the moment she was off balance. Instead of trying to regain her balance, she let herself fall and grabbed the round object, swinging it with all of her strength to smash the bone across his face. She earned some scratches on her legs, but the smash to his head must have made his eyes cross for he leaped away from her, but not before she managed to tear a ragged gash on his underbelly from the splintered end of her new weapon.

She quickly got to her feet and reset her stance the best she could with her stinging legs while her opponent inspected the gash she’d given him. The blue eyes that stared back at her narrowed and she narrowed her own in response.

“Come on than, you furless kitten,” she growled, brandishing her new weapon. Without his hierro and with a weapon in had now, even if it was less than ideal, she just might stand a chance. _A small one, but if I can get the sharp end of my weapon through an eye or into his neck or chest, I just might injure him enough to finish him off,_ she thought optimistically. She thoroughly refused to think about her weapon being a bone; because if she did her mind would point out how very much it looked like a snapped off, human femur.

Those blue eyes narrowed dangerously and this time he charged her with a snarl. She grabbed the bone weapon diagonally before her, catching it in his mouth and keeping his fangs away from her. His massive weight bore her easily to the sand and she had to squirm a bit to avoid his claws. Fortunately, he was too busy using them to keep his own balance so he couldn’t bring them to bear. She scowled in annoyance and used all of her strength to keep the bone caught in his mouth and his fangs away from her flesh. If he caught that bone in his actual fangs, she had no doubt he would snap it in twain.

Her scowl deepened in frustration at the temporary stalemate and the beast on top of her suddenly froze, or at least he stopped trying to kill her. He didn’t let up the pressure and it felt like her arms were ready to break holding his massive bulk and strength off her.

“r in?” His voice was heavily garbled thanks to the bone acting like a gag.

“Huh?” she questioned intelligently.

Slowly, the large feline backed off; weary of the ‘weapon’ in her hand. She scrambled back to her feet and finally got a good look at his other flank and the black tattoo that stained his white hide. There was only one hollow that could possibly match the one before her and, even though she had never personally met him, she had no doubt she knew who this was. Lord knew her brother groused about him enough in his letters and in person the few times he was able to pop home over the last decade for an hour long visit.

“Grimmjow!” she gaped at him.

“You’re Karin ain’t ya?” he demanded.

“Yeah,” she answered, feeling herself relax just a trifle now that they sort of recognized each other.

“Tch, thought I recognized that scowl,” he growled. “You look like your stupid brother.”

The cheering crowed above them slowly teetered off to grumbles of discontent and boos when it became clear that the battle had ended for now. Grimmjow turned his glare up to the shadowed balcony before baring his fangs and letting out a loud roar. A good number of people in the crowd actually flinched, she included for his roar was extra loud when one was that close to it, and more snapped their mouths shut. Silence descended on the stadium.

When the last sport was announced, he knew he was going to get something resembling a paltry meal today after all. What he hadn’t been expecting was for his meal to tug slightly at his memory the moment they faced each other. There were very few shinigami he had ever met, fewer he bothered to remember even slightly, and yet this one seemed familiar and very different from most of the other weaklings that were tossed into the pit.

First off, this woman wasn’t wearing a shihakusho, but rather what appeared to be grey slacks with a white t-shirt and running shoes. It wasn’t the clothing difference that pulled at his mind though, but something in her mannerism and eyes. At first, he thought it might have been the black haired shinigami he’d impaled once that liked to hang around Kurosaki, but the eyes were the wrong colour and the face not nearly as round. He was also rather well acquainted with Rukia since Ichigo liked to hang around her a lot, and if his nose had been right, finally mating her too. This woman was also taller than the Kuchiki rat by a fair amount, not to mention Kurosaki’s short friend would have recognized him right away and this woman clearly didn’t.

The other thing that was interesting was the fact that, while she was clearly concerned for her wellbeing, she had quickly fallen into a defensive stance and kept her eyes on him. There was no frantic running towards a wall and attempting to scale it, nor dashing towards the only gate that led out of this circular death hole. There was no begging or pleading for mercy from their captors or him, nor was there any hysterical weeping. It was rare that happened.

He stopped circling and made a half-hearted lunge to see how she would react. She rolled pass him and managed to connect her foot with his side. It even stung a little. She quickly regained her feet and turned to face him as fast as she could. Her entire focus was on him as she ignored the Quincy filth taking in the show. Nothing about the move jogged his memory, but something about her seemed so damn familiar it was aggravating. He gave her mental praise when she found a bone under the sand and brandished it as a weapon. Seeing her holding it just tickled his mind some more, but it wasn’t until he had her pinned beneath him, the bone in his mouth preventing his fangs from tearing out her throat, and she scowled up at him that it clicked.

That scowl. That determined look in the eye even in the face of obvious defeat. The hair and eyes were different colours, but there was no mistaking that expression or the sharp contours of that face. This young woman had black hair instead of blond, which could only mean one thing.

The bone in his mouth garbled his inquiry, but she must have understood him somewhat. He backed carefully away, mindful of that sharpened bone for he already had a minor laceration on his stomach from it, and watched as she quickly regained her feet. She fell back into a defensive stance the moment she was vertical. His guess must have been dead on for she knew his name as well and while he had never met with either of Ichigo’s sisters, his patrol partner had certainly gabbed about them enough times when the silence had gone on far too long. Apparently, Kurosaki had returned the favour with his sisters during the brief moments he got to spend with them.

“Tch, thought I recognized that scowl,” he growled, turning his glare up to the shadowed balcony before baring his fangs and letting out a loud roar. “Very funny fuck face. I bet you would have just loved to tell Kurosaki how I ate one of his sisters,” he snarled.

The entire crowd remained silent. Yhwach and his pet came into the light to stare down at them. The mere sight of the bastard Quincy king set his hackles up, for he’d been the one directly responsible for the return to four legs. He would never forget the way his body had twisted and jerked as Yhwach had used some sort of ability or tool to forcefully strip him of the shinigami part of his collection and regress him back into an Adjucus. He’d only been the first Arrancar to suffer; others had followed, including Nel during one of her lucid moments in her adult form. In Nel’s case though, it had worked out for the better as her broken mask had been fixed and she’d been reverted to a high level Adjucus. She had quickly evolved back into a Vasto Lorde with a few well-placed meals the Quincy had been ever so kind to provide for her with their bodies. The idiots had really stabbed themselves in the foot turning her.

A small part him supposed he should be thankful he hadn’t been slain that day while he had panted in the sand with Yhwach standing over him in a very please manner that his little ‘spell’ had worked, but that would require him to admit Ichigo had saved his life. It was bad enough still owing the hybrid for saving him from that dick Nnoitra, but acknowledging he had two life debts was almost physically painful.

“I find it amusing you would throw one of Ichigo’s sisters into the pit, Hashwald” Yhwach chuckled. “She could be so much more useful to us alive.”

“I would sooner die than be used against Ichi-nii,” Karin snarled from beside him, a remark he silently applauded, as the two on the balcony continued to look at them like one would a dog doing interesting tricks for the amusement of others.

“I am sorry, your majesty. I had foolishly believed that she was one of his spiritually aware, human friends.”

The fact Hashwald had no idea who Karin was took him by surprise. It would seem the fools hadn’t even known who they’d had captive. The rank and file made sense, but Hashwald should have recognized their target’s family members. He ignored the fact it had taken him a moment to, but at least he had figured it out quickly. He wondered if they would have thrown Karin down here at all if they had known her connection with Ichigo, or if they planned on fishing her out now. She would be a very valuable hostage, especially considering how much of a pain in their asses Ichigo was being.

“I thought it would be interesting to see how a spiritually aware human would fare against your pets over a Shinigami. I was unaware his sisters had developed abilities.”

He snarled up at the bastards at being referred to as a ‘pet’ and turned his back on the duo. “C’mon,” he growled, heading back towards his cell. Karin didn’t hesitate long before following in his wake. Smart girl. It will be harder to fish her out if she’s in my den. As much as I hate to admit it, I owe Kurosaki and it will really stick it in their craw to fuck up their plans by keeping her safe. Not that I should need to do much. Bitch has spunk, he couldn’t help but to think amused.

He ignored her presence once they were inside the dubious safety of his assigned den and lay down in his nest. He would need to conserve his strength and not waste energy until his next feeding, whenever that was due. He doubted he would be given another chance on the next round of entertainment just because he’d chosen to spare her. He also didn’t want to admit she’d landed a few good hits on him and he used the majority of his bulk to block the sight of him cleaning the gash she’d made with that bone. It had been a good strike and if the bone had been braced against the ground, might have even done some serious damage.

 _The next frenzy should be in a few more cycles. As long as I rest and not use up any strength, I should be more than strong enough to get in a few meals. Weak ass chumps, no wonder they are kissing these bastards’ boots. They never had a chance at becoming Vasto Lorde. Becoming an Arrancar is the best they could ever hope to get._ He ignored the little voice at the back of his head that called him a hypocrite. Aizen had given him a short cut after all. _Tch, Aizen was going to kill us if we refused and we didn’t exactly have anywhere to run and hide to. These fools are playing with fire. It won’t be much longer, I can feel the power within me coiling so tightly it should be bursting forth soon. I will bathe in their blood and feast upon their corpses for days to come._ Such thoughts entertained him for a short while before his attention was once more called to his new den mate.

Karin hadn’t missed the way Grimmjow growled at the back of his throat over being referred to as a ‘pet,’ but she also noticed he didn’t return a smart alack comment either, something that seemed out of character given her second hand knowledge of the former Espada.

She didn’t hesitate long before following in his wake when he led her back to his cell. The last thing she needed was for a different cell to be opened and to end up facing a new opponent, one that would be delighted to eat her. The crowd was murmuring and she could feel eyes on her back as she followed Grimmjow. It took a lot of control not to shiver at the feeling. There wasn’t much in the cell other than what looked like a nest made of black and white cloth. The bars came down behind her, locking her in the rather small room. The walls on either side appeared to be more sandstone and she noticed the double sets of bars on the inner side.

_Like the safety pens in zoos used to transfer items in and out of the cages. I suppose they could also be used to move prisoners between them while the cell is cleaned._

The sound of the crowd leaving acted as background noise and a glance out of the cell revealed several very nervous people cleaning the arena. She frowned as she noticed they seemed to be wearing very tattered shihakusho, suggesting they were probably shinigami prisoners that hadn’t been chosen to be eaten, or at least, not yet.

Grimmjow moved over to his nest and lay down, promptly ignoring her. She sat down against the wall across from him and began to inspect her injuries, hissing as she used a relatively clean part of her clothing to try and brush the sand out of her lacerations. A few were deep enough that she tore off small strips to bind them. 

_Considering what lives in these cells; it’s no wonder they are nervous. I wonder how often some Quincy jackass opens one, or more, of these cells just to see which ones don’t make it to safety._

__

__

_Damn these wounds are starting to sting and, as much as I hate to admit it, I am out of breath too. Another fight now would definitely not end well for me. Besides, I wasn’t lying when I said I would sooner die than be used against anyone. I got a feeling Grimmjow would have no problems ending my life quickly if I asked. He might even enjoy it as a bit of payback to Ichi-nii for all their scuffles. At least my pride is appeased slightly to learn it was their second in command that took me down so damn easily and not some stupid grunt,_ she thought as she felt her wounded pride stitch a bit of itself back together, followed by several more stitches over the knowledge she actually lasted longer than four seconds against Grimmjow in that pit, even if he was stripped of everything but his own physical strength. He was a trained killing machine, a predator full of weapons, she’d had her fists and the bone she’d managed to trip over.

“I don’t suppose we are lucky enough to have water anywhere?” she asked after a look around the room revealed nothing more than floor, bars, walls, ceiling, Grimmjow and his nest of cloth.

“Not very often,” he answered.

“Shit!” she cursed. “Would be just my luck to have one of these scratches get infected and die to an infection,” she muttered. The universe would spite her that way too, she just knew it. She could already see the fever dreams. She nearly jumped when his shadow fell over her.

“Let me see,” he ordered.

She held the arm she’d been inspecting out and just about shot out of her clothing when his rough tongue ran over the wound. It was not very comfortable considering even his tongue held a feline nature, and thus bristle furs covered it, but considering the absence of water, which might not even be clean if they had it, it was probably the best way to get the dirt out. He tended to all her scratches before returning silently to his nest.

_Least his breath doesn’t stink or anything. Man, I hope they let us take showers occasionally. I got sand in places I would rather not think about and my hair is a tangled rats nest, not to mention I am going to stink if I must live in these sweat soaked clothes._

Not long after the prisoners were done cleaning the arena and retreated to their own cells somewhere, the lights turned off, plunging her into darkness. She mentally cursed as she blinked her eyes rapidly, doing her best to try and adjust to the new light. After several very long minutes, the only thing that appeared was glowing red eyes from several of the cells across the way. It was very unnerving and she felt the hair on her body rise as her skin became hyper sensitive. Even her hearing seemed to jump in sensitivity.

“So, obviously, you are not dead,” she commented after the silence and darkness finally got to her.

A snort was her response.

“Dare I ask what this place is, other than a ring for some sort of sick, Quincy entertainment?”

“Training ground,” he grunted. “Most of those in the other cells are baseline Adjucus, but a few were Arrancar forcefully regressed like me. The pathetic ones are removed from their cells and sent to the front as cannon fodder for these fuck faces when they have ‘earned the privilege by contributing to the empire,’” he snorted in contempt.

That made some sense. She’d learned from the others over the years that the Quincy had been using hollows as shock troops. An Adjucus alone could take out an entire squad of even seated officers and very few shinigami could take on an Arrancar.

“From what my brother has said, you hardly seem like the ‘loyal lapdog’ type, and if you have been here for as long as you have been presumed dead, why haven’t they just killed you yet?” she asked confused.

“Stupidity?” he offered, pulling a chuckle from her.

“That, I can fully believe they have in abundance.”

Silence fell between them again, but this time it felt somewhat more comfortable. It was getting cold the longer the lights were out. Or perhaps, it was always cold in here and now that the adrenaline has worn off, I am finally starting to notice it. She curled up the best she could, trying to make herself comfortable on the sandy floor. There was about two inches of the dry, grainy stuff before she hit more sandstone. No doubt the cell was layered in sand because it was easy to clean, which was not a pleasant thought. She hadn’t exactly seen anything resembling a latrine in here.

Her instincts screamed at her not to turn her back to a predator, especially one as dangerous as the large feline behind her, but she told them to ‘take a hike’ and pointed out to herself that if Grimmjow wanted to eat her, there really wasn’t much that could stop him. Oh, she could delay it, but she wasn’t fooling herself into thinking that she would have won out there. She piled up the sand around her the best she could and curled against the wall, pulling her arms in under her shirt and tight around her. It helped a little, but not much. By the end of an hour she was still wide awake and shivering. The sounds from the other cells didn’t help any either. She could hear growling, snarling and what sounded like the odd whimper and soft cry. The fact the latter two sounded disturbingly human didn’t help matters any. She damn near jumped out of her skin when she felt something land on her.

“Your shivering is annoying,” Grimmjow growled.

“Sorry,” she muttered sarcastically, but didn’t try and push the fabric he’d dropped on her away. She thought it was some sort of yukata, but in the dark she couldn’t tell. All that mattered was that it would work as a blanket. Folded in half, it offered some warmth at least and her little cocoon eventually gained some warmth, at least enough she wasn’t ‘cold’ anymore, but she would hardly say she was warm. It was so dark that she honestly had no idea when she managed to fall asleep.

It was well after lights out when Karin finally fell into a restless slumber under the bedding he had provided for her. He’d honestly expected her to crawl into the nest with him for the shared warmth, but it would seem she was still leery of him. He could respect that. It was not easy to share a nest with someone you just met when they had just tried to eat you an hour or so ago. Feigned companionship for an easy meal was not uncommon amongst Adjucus.

He was just getting ready to get some rest himself when the occupant of the cell to his left spoke up. “Getting soft, Grimmjow?”

“Fuck off Starrk. It’s none of your business,” he growled.

“I wonder how long she will remain compliant in your cell when she sees what they feed us, or what we do to the ones they give us as pets. You should get some sleep tonight while you can.”

“Tch,” he scoffed, but had to admit the coyote was right. Ichigo still got squeamish at times when he had to feed on the more human shaped Adjucus and there was no telling if Karin would handle it any better, especially considering she might end up knowing some of their meals. There was also the chance that the Quincy bastards may offer a reward to whichever Adjucus could kill/eat her during the next frenzy, or at least separate her from him and into their own cells where she could be more easily retrieved.

_Again, assuming they feed her at all. It’s not like I can just conjure up food for her to eat, and I doubt I could convince her to share my meals. Doing so would probably just make her sick; humans can’t eat raw meat after all. Ah fuck it, no use worrying over shit we can’t control._

He drifted off to a light slumber, one that would be easily broken if any disturbance should enter his cell. He wouldn’t put it past the fools to try and take her while he was resting. It would be a foolish move, but he didn’t credit half of the guards with the intelligence someone as dim witted as Yammy had been able to boast. If anything, they would send their slaves in to try and recover her since his eating the wretches spared to be slaves wouldn’t be any loss to them. He wasn’t worried about her coming after him at all. If she was anything like Ichigo, now that they were ‘companions’ she would lay her life on the line for his own. It was a strange thing humans, or at least those of the Kurosaki line, seemed to do.


	2. Chapter 2

The next day ‘dawned’ bright as the fake sky was flicked on. The cells were at least shaded enough that it didn’t immediately burn her eyes. Karin awoke with a groan, most of her muscles feeling stiff and sore. Her lacerations only stung when she moved the flesh they were marred into, so that was at least one improvement already. Her stomach ached lightly with the need to go pee combined with the stirrings of hunger. Another groan pulled its way past her lips as she forced herself to sit up and stretch out her stiff muscles. Grimmjow was still in his nest, but this time he was facing her with blue eyes half lidded.

“Morning,” she greeted. “I don’t suppose there is some sort of hidden button somewhere on the walls that open a doorway into a bathroom is there?” she asked. “Preferably one with a large hot spring?”

“No,” he answered with a trace of amusement.

“Well shit. You got a corner you use for your business?” she asked, looking doubtfully about the cell.

“They let us out once a day to use the sand in the main pit.”

“That does not sound fun and kind of perverted,” she muttered.

A commotion from the other side of the duel bars brought both of their attention to the shinigami prisoner that was in the process of rising the outer bars. The shivering boy, for he hardly looked that old, deposited a bowl of water, a bowl of rice with what looked like strips of meat on top, and another empty bowl before hustling back out and securing the outer gate.

With a click, a small section of the safety bars swung in slightly as the latch was released. Karin retrieved the three bowls, making sure to leave as much of her body in the main cell as possible. She wouldn’t put it past them to try and separate her or retrieve her by trapping her between the two sets of bars. She wasn’t ready to be separated from the only person she knew here just yet.

“I don’t suppose you can detect poisons, can you? Any way to tell if this food is drugged?” she asked.

“Let me take a whiff.”

She was reminded as to just how large he was when he stood and padded over to her. If she’d been standing at her full, semi impressive 5’8” height, she would be looking him dead in the eye. He was probably a good 6ft or more at the shoulders.

“Smells clean. So does the water. If there is anything in it, I can’t scent it.”

“Thanks. Do you want some of the water?” she asked.

“Take care of yourself first. I do not require nearly as much water as you do.”

“Alright.” Considering Hueco Mundo is a giant desert, I suppose that makes sense.

He padded back to his nest and curled up with his back facing her. She took the offered privacy to use the empty bowl to flush her bladder before eating most of her fare. She couldn’t bring herself to eat the meat. Something about it just seemed wrong to her. It was the wrong colour to be chicken or pig and yet the dark brown meat just didn’t seem the right shade to be cow to her.

“You want the rest?” she asked, offering him the bowl of meat and about a quarter of the water.

“You have had enough to keep your strength up?” he asked.

“If I get this amount every day, I should be good for some time yet. I am not as hungry as I should be. I remember Rukia mentioning once that plus souls in Soul Society don’t even need to eat, nor do lesser hollows. Maybe the larger reishi in Hueco Mundo is sustaining me some.”

“Perhaps,” he agreed. It didn’t take him long to finish the remains off. It just remaindered her of how big and dangerous he was as one swipe of his tongue brought the meat into his mouth and the water followed quickly, despite the fact his head was far larger than the bowl.

Sometime later, the three bowls were replaced with two; another meal of rice and meat and a fresh bowl of water. Grimmjow waved the water away, but he did eat the meat when she offered it. This time she really didn’t want to know what it was for she could see a few veins filled with black blood and it sure as hell was not fish.

“So, is this what the days look like here?” she asked sometime after dinner; which had included another bowl to use as a chamber pot.

“Most days.”

“Well, this is boring as all hell. How are you still sane?” she asked.

He laughed, a sound that actually seemed to have a hint of madness to it. “This is far more activity than most see while hunting in the empty sands of Hueco Mundo. There is a reason many Adjucus will form packs, and it isn’t just to make hunting easier or to have someone watch your back as you sleep.”

“I suppose it would help to have someone cover you while fucking too,” she mused aloud.

He stared at her, before laughing again. “You offering?” he asked.

“Not sure I am into bestiality. Besides, I got a feeling you are fully, feline correct, which means barbs, so double no thanks.” The mere thought was enough to make her shudder. Just how big would the barbs on a feline of his size be?

He laughed again and gave his head a shake. “Fuck, why couldn’t you have been born with Kurosaki’s power? He is such a prude.”

“Yeah, well, Goatface and Yuzu didn’t help him any. Every time he even looked at a girl they went all stalker crazy on him, especially the old man. He would start railing about grandkids to the poster of our dead mother loud enough for half the city to hear. His exclamations about ‘young vitality’ didn’t help any either.” She couldn’t help the small smile that touched her lips. “Course, heaven forbid a boy even look towards Yuzu or myself. Do you have any idea how hard it is to even hang out with my male friends, which I had tons of, without the old man breathing down their necks and warning them of even attempting anything with his ‘precious flowers?’” she scowled.

“If they were scared off by your sire, then they were not worth mating anyhow,” he snorted.

“Can’t argue that point,” she conceded after thinking about it for a moment.

The bars to his cell suddenly opened. Throughout the day different hollows, most of them Adjucus, had been released into the large chamber. Several had wandered over their way, but a single look and soft growl from Grimmjow sent them off quickly. Karin rose to her feet and picked up her bone weapon.

“Stay by the entrance,” he ordered.

“No arguments from me,” she agreed easily.

She followed him outside just enough that she could dive back into the cell if another, or more, was opened. The sound of a few heavy sniffs brought her attention to the cell beside their own. It seemed to contain a… wolf? No, the body was too lean, the legs far too long and skinny and the head was not near broad enough. It wasn’t a dog either, at least not any species she could recognize. It almost resembled a fox, save that the tail was all wrong. He wasn’t very big either, far smaller than Grimmjow. Grey eyes stared intelligently at her and he or she cocked its head to the side to study her. It was hard to tell the gender since it was lying down in its own nest of black and white cloth.

Can’t hurt I suppose, she mused as she studied him. “Hi.”

“Evening,” he replied civilly.

She studied him some more, her eyes shifting down to his front paws, one of which had a black mark on it. At first, she thought it was maybe a wound or a bruise, but she realized after studying it for a moment that it was actually a number.

“Making friends, Starrk?” Grimmjow grunted as he appeared by her side.

Starrk didn’t answer, but simple rose to his feet. While Grimmjow’s head was easily equal to her own, Starrk’s only rose to her stomach. The gate began to open and Karin shuffled closer to her own cell mate. She didn’t get the impression that Starrk was interested in eating or attacking her, but she wasn’t going to be all friendly with him just because he returned her greeting. He was a hollow after all and if that tattoo and his name were anything to go by, a former Espada as well.

She followed Grimmjow back into their shared cell while Starrk took his turn at sniffing around the sand. The gate closed behind them, once more locking them into the small space.

“I thought Starrk was dead,” she commented.

“He’s too old and powerful to be killed so easily. Idiots left him for dead not knowing what they were dealing with. You want to make sure someone as strong as he is stays dead, you either eat them or chop their head off.”

“Is he a friend?” she asked curiously.

He gave a bark of a laugh before answering her question. “Hollows don’t so much have ‘friends’ as we have ‘not food’ or ‘not enemies.’”

“Pretty sure Nel would disagree,” she pointed out.

“Nel is fucked in the head.”

“Females are more likely to make ‘friends’ for the sake of survival and successful rearing of their young,” Starrk’s muffled voice came from beside them.

Karin moved closer to the pit opening so she could hear him better. The sandstone walls did a pretty good job muffling sound. “So, do hollows just mate and run?” she asked curiously. Dinner arrived and she once again passed the meat over to Grimmjow after he checked her meal for any poisons he might be able to detect.

“Depends. Most packs will help rear the young, they are so rare and so very vulnerable, but it will come down to the individual and their base creatures. These forms we take are chosen for a reason in many cases,” Starrk answered while they ate.

“What do you know Starrk? Until Aizen came along the only person you could even get close to was Lynette. No wonder all you want to do is duck your head under the pillows all day.”

“Lynette is gone.” His voice was hollow and Karin felt her chest constrict at the pain she could hear in it.

“What happened?” she asked softly.

“Aizen killed her,” Starrk answered bitterly.

“Thought you said it was some Shinigami freak wearing a pink kimono,” Grimmjow challenged.

“Shunsui?” Karin questioned, for he was the only one she could think of that wore an unmistakable pink Kimono. She doubted very many other Shinigami were garbed like he was.

“He was merely the sword Aizen threw her at.”

The light went out, causing her to jump a bit in surprise as darkness enveloped them. She patted her way over to the little pit she had dug in the sand and found the black kosodo Grimmjow had lent her from his own nest. It was unwise to be near the bars in the dark where a suddenly loose hollow could sink its claws into her. She got the impression that Starrk was done talking anyhow so she settled in to sleep. She had learned some interesting things today that were worth reflecting upon.

The fact they were feeding Karin suggested to him that they had no plans to remove her from his cell, at least not for now. The meat she pawned off on him, while merely scraps, helped to abate his constant hunger slightly. He couldn’t bring himself to tell her it was hollow meat from those deemed unworthy and hunted to death, but he had a feeling she knew, or at least suspected. He checked her food without even needing to be asked after the first day, for he had no desire for her to be poisoned or drugged. With his luck, they would leave her to rot in his cell and that would just start to stink real quick.

Alright, I wouldn’t let her rot, I would eat her. Would take that info to my next six reincarnations.

Throughout the first two days he had to warn off the others that came stalking around to get a look at her during their own pee breaks. The second day saw Starrk issuing his own warning growls. He was loathed to admit that the others had given up so soon due to the fact Starrk had added his own warnings. The other former Espada was considerably more powerful, even regressed into an Adjucus form, than he was. In fact, Grimmjow was detested to admit the Starrk was probably still as powerful now as he had been as the 6th Espada, despite Starrk suddenly finding himself on four paws instead of two feet. He never did learn how Yhwach had found Starrk or changed the former first, and he wasn’t about to ask.

There was next to nothing to do in the cells except to sleep or talk. Karin at least knew how to keep up an interesting conversation and Starrk joined in occasionally. He had to admit, it was well worth the conversations to get dirt on Ichigo, and Karin was more than willing to share.

“Seriously? Kuro-fucking-saki was a mamma’s boy?” he demanded in disbelief.

“That would be putting it mildly,” Karin chuckled. “He was practically glued to Mama’s side. Tatsuki use to kick his ass every training session and have him in tears before Mama would come save him. Granted, she is a world renown martial artist, so that’s not a fair comparison. She was the one who trained me damn near daily when shit really started to get ugly out there with the white clad freaks.”

“What happened?” Starrk asked.

“Mama died,” Karin answered. Her face fell and grief passed over it. “She was killed by Grandfisher, or so I was told when my old man finally ‘fessed up after I threatened to introduce his head with Yuzu’s prized wok if he didn’t stop hiding shit from me. I can get why he did it when we were little, but at this point in our lives, with all the danger out there, hiding shit from us is just going to get us killed. I like knowing what I need to keep an eye out for.”

“Grandfisher was an Adjucus, one that preferred the taste of human flesh, preferably female, over his own kind. The fact your brother survived an encounter with him at such a young age should have been a warning of his potential,” Starrk mused.

“Or a clear sign of how weak ass and pathetic Grandfisher was,” he snorted. “Idiot couldn’t even handle being turned into an Arrancar right without only going part way and immediately getting his ass killed the same day. Weak ass fuck,” he muttered.

“Well, as stupid and idiotic as the old man can be, he is still, or was, a taichou.”

Grimmjow’s head snapped up to stare at her in surprise. It shouldn’t have surprised him considering Ichigo’s strength, but his rival had never once mentioned this about his Sire. In fact, Ichigo did his damn best to avoid talking about Isshin, and even the thought of Kurosaki’s sire had that trademark scowl on his face with an additional tick of irritation over his eye. Considering what I have learned from Karin so far, it’s no wonder he never talked about his sire much. Speaking of talking, I don’t think I have ever heard Starrk talk so much. Loneliness must really be getting to him. Granted, Lilinette never shut up long enough for anyone to get a word in edgewise anyhow, least of all him, so maybe that’s why he didn’t talk all that much. Or maybe he is just enjoying the conversation until tomorrow, when she will no doubt turn her back on us, or at least him. Starrk will be one of the first up to be fed, assuming they got prey big enough to feed him. They just might drop a couple into the pit instead of one. Wouldn’t be the first time.

He had no doubt tomorrow would bring another round of entertainment. If not tomorrow than the next day. He had no idea how Karin was going to react to them slaughtering and eating the prey dropped down into the pit, or each other depending on the form of entertainment chosen. She hadn’t asked about the pile of shihakusho that made up his nest. Perhaps she thinks they are from the people the Vandervich killed. She wouldn’t really be wrong. Probably a good thing the lighting prevents anyone from seeing too well into the other cells. If she saw what went on in a few of them…

That thought brought a different one to his mind and suddenly the reason she was being left in his cell came into a different light. He was fairly positive there were no cameras in the cells, but the quincy bastards wouldn’t need to see in anyhow. The moment she went into heat every hollow in the stadium would know it and react. Unlike Shinigami or hollows, humans went into heat monthly, not by the decade. They could afford to wait and hope and see if anything came from it.

Idiots. Maybe one of those other simpletons might be enticed to mate with her for the sake of having their masks broken by King Fuckface so they can see what it’s like to touch upon being something similar to a Vasto Lorde before they die so ingloriously on the blade of one of those bloody shinigami, short sighted morons, but I am not so base as to mate an unwilling woman just because she was in heat. Only a fool lets their instincts control them instead of just listening to them. The fact we can choose to act on them or not is what makes us more than mere beasts.

They’d tried to entice him to breed before, but each time he either ignored the prospecting female or ate ‘em, depending on how hungry he was and how much of a meal they would make. He had no plans on playing to their games in anyway that didn’t benefit him. His attention was pulled back to the conversation and while he had missed Starrk enquiry, Karin’s answer at least explained how she had gotten tangled up in this mess.

“With the war going on there are very few shinigami on patrol anymore, which means plus souls are being left behind and hollows are running amok everywhere eating them up. Probably why Soul Society didn’t say anything to me, or the others, when we starting to take up the mantel. In fact, I think they even gave Tatsuki, Keigo, Asano and a few other of Ichi-nii’s more spiritually aware friends those blank zanpakuto to help clean up the mess with. I ain’t interested in a sword, more likely to cut me own head, arm or leg off if I even tried, so I got Kisuke to give me a seal instead to send plus souls on. It’s not my war and I couldn’t really care less, but I can’t just stand there doing nothing when I can see those poor plus souls being neglected when it ain’t their fault.

“As for the hollows that show up, I wanted to ignore them but the one I ignore today could be the one to kill a friend tomorrow, so I take care of them if I can or lead them about to someone who can help me deal with them or, on a few occasions, lead them to the middle of nowhere before I lose them. By that point they usually get a little pissed and head back here not wanting to waste anymore time or risk being noticed by a real shinigami.

“That’s how that long-haired asshole pinned me down. An adjucus had been hunting on my turf, or most likely fleeing from a Quincy patrol now that I think about it. I started to fight with it to move it away from the civilians when, bam, that jackass came in. He killed the hollow and roughed me up a bit before dragging me here. You know the rest.”

The way she scowled reminded him of himself when he had prey stolen from him… or when he had to bite his tongue in Aizen’s presence.

“So, the shinigami are losing?” Starrk asked.

“More like ‘not winning’ from what I understand based on what little info I get. Seems like they are kind of caught in a stalemate of some sort, but people on either side are still dying. I do know they managed to secure the Royal Palace, but not much more than that. Nel stops by to check on us from time to time and I get bits of info from Nanao-san when Shunsui sends her to exchange letters with those on the front lines. Part of the deal for Ichi-nii and Goatface to join in the fighting was that they would be able to keep in touch with all of us.”

He recalled every time Ichigo had gotten his letters when they returned to Las Noches after a patrol. It was really the only time he could recall the hybrid smiling, even if it was a sad smile. Now he understood why the young man had been so impatient to receive them.

The lights went out and he heard Karin shuffle over to her spot, curling up under the makeshift blanket. His own eyes adjusted quickly but even he could barely see in the blackness. He was just getting ready to drift off when a loud scream broke the silence. Karin bolted to her feet, bone in hand and facing the darkness. He gave her points for bravery since he knew she couldn’t see a thing. The scream turned into sobs that he could hear easily, but were no doubt quiet to her human ears; assuming she could even hear them. He supposed it was a good thing her hearing was not so great because it meant she missed most of the sounds of rutting that took place during the night.

“What was that, other than the obvious?” Karin asked, her voice somewhat shaky.

“Someone got hurt in the dark. It happens a fair amount,” Starrk answered calmly, and probably more diplomatically then he was about to.

“Not all hollows have good night vision I take it?” she questioned with a nervous chuckle, settling back down under her own blanket.

“Even with night vision, I can only make you out as a slightly darker shadow in a shadow,” he reluctantly confessed. “Even we need a bit of light to see.”

Karin settled back down, but somehow, he doubted either one of their words had comforted her, nor did he think she was going to get much rest tonight. Grimmjow folded his own ears back, trying to block out the noise of the others rutting with their pets. The scream had triggered most, if not all, of the others with breeding partners to mate.

The next morning came with a snap of the lights turning on. Food, water and chamber pot were delivered and several of the shinigami slaves were out in the arena, indicating today would be a day of entertainment after all. He watched Karin out of the corner of his eye as she watched them rake the sand and clean up the mess from yesterday’s potty breaks. It was unlikely he would be chosen to participate, but it was Starrk’s turn to feed.


	3. Chapter 3

Karin could tell something different was up today. First off, the Shinigami prisoners were fearfully raking the sand, glancing nervously at the cages that ringed the stadium. Second off, even though he tried to hide it, she was positive Grimmjow was nervous. She could tell by the way the tip of his tail kept twitching, just like any cat. She kept her bone weapon extra close.

It was after her morning meal and waste had been removed when the sound of the stadium filling started to reach her ears. She felt a scowl appear on her face as she realized that a round of ‘entertainment’ was about to begin. Based on what little she had learned so far in the three days she’d been here, such entertainment seemed to involve feeding shinigami prisoners to hollows. It was sickening. She couldn’t see much of the crowd from the cell, the angle was wrong, but she could picture it.

The crowds din dying down was the only warning she got that the event was about to start. A black and white body hit the ground and a terrified shinigami she didn’t recognize scrambled about in the sand, frantically racing towards the wall on hands and feet. A scorpion type hollow chased him down quickly, the stinger on its back coming down to impale the man through the chest. Blood splattered across the sands in a fountain and the man let out a gargled scream before turning black and going still. The hollow took its time tearing pieces of flesh off with its pincers and eating it. The gruesome display continued until the only thing left were the tattered remains of the man’s uniform, dark sand where blood had landed, and a few of the larger bones that were almost picked clean.

Karin felt sick to her stomach as the hollow gathered the scattered remains of its meal’s clothing and returned to its cell. She couldn’t help but to glance at Grimmjow’s nest and quickly realized where the padding had come from. Grimmjow ignored her glance, watching the spectacle before them with board disinterest. She shifted her gaze to the kosodo she was using for a blanket and couldn’t help but to wonder who it had belonged to before now. Hopefully not someone she knew.

Another prisoner was tossed into the pit, taken down, and consumed by the next hollow released. The sound of flesh tearing and bones crunching caused her to wince, but she couldn’t bring herself to look away. She clutched her bone to her tightly as she watched the bloody spectacle take place before her and came to the realization that those bloody corpses could have easily been her if she hadn’t been both lucky enough to have drawn Grimmjow and have him recognize her.

The crowd above suddenly grew silent after the sixth prisoner had been consumed. Now Grimmjow suddenly showed interest and moved to sit beside her. The position resulted in his head being slightly higher than her own.

“Starrk?” he whispered.

“Yeah. Wonder who pissed of the Black Death this time. Maybe one of the sternritter if we are lucky.”

“Never that lucky,” Grimmjow snorted.

“What’s going on?” she asked, keeping her own voice low too.

The next man to land in the pit was clothed all in white. Karin barely had time to register it was a Quincy and not a shinigami before Starrk shot from his cell. Sharp fangs closed around the man’s throat, who struggled briefly before going into violent convulsions. A moment later the body went still. Starrk tore into his meal with relish and it didn’t take him long to consume everything, even the bones as his sharp fangs easily snapped and broke them. When he was done, nothing but splintered bone fragments remained.

“When they piss of their leader, sometimes they are thrown down here for us to deal with. Hollow reiatsu is poisonous to the Quincy,” Grimmjow answered her question as Starrk began to lick himself clean of the blood that had splashed on his muzzle, paws and neck. “Truthfully, they taste like shit, but it’s worth it for the power we often get out of them and the satisfaction of getting our fangs on ‘em,” he growled.

Starrk gathered the remains of his meal’s clothing and returned calmly to his cell. Karin noticed that he almost seemed tired and didn’t glance their way once.

“How many shinigami have you eaten?” she asked softly.

“Fuck, I have lost count. Too many to keep track of anyway. I been around a long time,” he answered with a grunt. “It’s not like shinigami and hollows have a history of being friends.” He rose to his paws and returned to his nest. “That will be all the ‘entertainment’ for today. They always save their own dead for last.”

Karin remained silent as she watched the nervous shinigami prisoners, the ones that had apparently been spared being a meal for some reason, begin to clean up the arena. When dinner came, she forced herself to eat; passing the meat over to Grimmjow on auto pilot. It had certainly been a gruesome display. Yet… the more she replayed the horrible events over and over in her mind, one thing became clear; all the shinigami, and even the quincy, had been killed quickly and efficiently. There had been no torture, no drawn-out suffering. If anything had been drawn out, it had been the actual consummation of the corpse. While grotesque, the victim hadn’t actually suffered.

“Do you always kill your prey so quickly?” she asked, pleased that her voice was steady as she asked the question.

“Yes,” Starrk answered. “It is foolish to give your prey a chance to escape or harm you.”

“What happens to the souls of the people you eat?”

“They join our soul collection. When we die, the souls move on to where they are supposed to go, usually Soul Society.”

She found herself relaxing at the statement and moved over to where she usually sat while talking to Starrk.

“Do they suffer being in your soul collection?”

“No. It’s a lot like taking a long sleep, or so the few who remember it say. Occasionally when the main personality of a hollow becomes weak for some reason, another will rise to take its place. I knew one hollow that had three dominate personalities. When the other two were not in control or ridding double, they said it was a lot like being asleep. Sometimes they would ‘dream’ about things going on, but most of the time it was quiet and peaceful,” Starrk explained.

“Sounds a lot better than being erased from existence,” she couldn’t help but to muse aloud. “Giving the choice, I think I would sooner be eaten.”

“I’ll remember that for later,” Grimmjow drawled.

“What makes you think I would let you eat me? Starrk has been the more informative, talkative, friendly one,” she pointed out. “I got a feeling it would be a lot more peaceful in his head than in yours.”

“Yeah, I give you a week before you would go crazy with boredom. If you are anything like the girl your brother wouldn’t shut up about, then you are far more interested in kicking asses than sleeping all day.”

“I am hardly a ‘girl,’” she rolled her eyes at him, “but you might have me there,” she admitted easily. “And if I was being honest, I would sooner see you eat the entire quincy army while I kicked ‘em down your throats than have to be eaten.”

“A good dream,” Starrk sighed.

“Really should have been you who got those powers your brother wastes,” Grimmjow chuckled.

Karin settled more comfortably into her makeshift bed, mind slightly more at ease than it had been after witnessing the straight up murders that had taken place earlier. She couldn’t help but to wonder if the Shinigami knew what awaited them if they were captured, but she somehow doubted it. Ichigo would never have mentioned camps like these in his letters, but Orihime would have and Nel would have warned her to watch out for them.

She wasn’t a fool either and had noticed the word choices Starrk had used. She had a feeling that being eaten was the better fate. Grimmjow had mentioned some of the others having ‘pets’ and that scream the other night, while one of pain, hadn’t sounded very much like the ‘stub your toe’ kind of pain. Not that she could stop anyone from torturing anyone else being locked up in this cell, nor could she get through the doors of the other cells even when she was in the open area.


	4. Chapter 4

The next ten days seemed to pass in the same pattern. She was fed three times a day, provided a bowl for waste twice a day, and every two to four days more prisoners were thrown into the pit to feed the hollows. She quickly noticed a pattern to the way they were being released and she had a feeling that Grimmjow’s turn would be coming up again soon.

Can I watch him kill and eat a ‘human?’ she asked herself. I accepted Starrk doing it, but that was an enemy and I don’t really share a cell with him. What if it’s someone I know? The thought was making her nervous and it was getting harder to sleep at night. She didn’t know many shinigami, but the idea of watching the ones she did know have their throats torn out was not pleasant.

There was a growing commotion in the cells as the sound of the crowd gathering up above reached their ears. The hollows were chitterling excitedly and the few she could barely make out from the light reflecting off their white hides were pacing before their bars in excitement. Grimmjow’s ears were up and his nose was lifted to the air. When he stood up Karin was reminded all too keenly that he was a male.

“What’s going on?” she asked nervously.

“Breeding selection,” Grimmjow answered in a growl.

Now that she thought about it, all the hollows she’d seen and heard had been male. Nel had mentioned that there were fewer females at the higher ranks, mainly because most of the people that became hollows were men since most militaries were, to this day, male heavy. If anyone tended to die in bloody, violent ways, it was often soldiers.

The entertainment started off as she had seen the last four times. A shinigami prisoner was tossed into the pit to be eaten. This time the meals were over quickly as the hollow chosen to eat them make a quick kill and all but choked on their meal while trying to eat in a rush. There was even another Quincy tossed into the pit, this one a civilian judging by the lack of a white uniform; or perhaps he’d been caught doing something off duty and not given a chance to change.

The sound of hysterical female screaming alerted her to the fact that the ‘breeding selection’ was up next. To her horror, the woman being lowered into the pit was not only naked and restrained in ropes like something right out of a bondage movie, but she was clearly not a hollow either. She was left dangling about two feet off the ground, swinging and swaying slightly as she fought against her restraints. Screams turned into frightened sobs and Karin wondered how long she’d been suspended above the pit. Long enough to have seen her companions devoured? Did she have any idea that the Quincy didn’t intend for her to be eaten?

“If this door opens, you stay close by my side or Starrk or his cell if we get separated,” Grimmjow ordered firmly. Unable to find her voice, she nodded her head and held her weapon close.

The bars to their cell didn’t open, but four others did. Two of the hollows raced for the bound woman, who let out a scream of terror when she saw the one in front of her charge at her. The third stalked in at a more leisurely pace while the fourth moved out of his cell and lay down to watch. The two that charged in met in a fury of claws and fangs as they fought, both trying to do more damage to the other. The third, goat-like one slowed down as he approached and walked around the fighting duo to sniff at the sobbing female, who tried to jerk away from him. It just resulted in her swinging in her harness. Apparently not liking the scent, he scoffed and turned to the two that were fighting. He moved so fast Karin almost missed the attack. 

With a furious scream, one of the two scrapping hollows fell away, blood gushing from his neck. The two attacking wasted no time in ending his life and beginning to feast in a leisurely manner. Oddly enough, the sight of hollows fighting and killing each other didn’t bother her overly much.

Probably because they look so much like animals. It’s not like watching a tiger eat a monkey has ever bothered me or watching alligators take down wildebeest. What is the fourth one doing though? He is still just laying there in front of his cell looking board.

For a brief moment, she dared to hope the two hollows eating the third had forgotten about the suspended woman, but the one that had initially charged in finally rose to his feet and turned to face her. The bound female sobbed as the hollow stalked around her, looking very much like the mongoose he resembled, all be it even larger than Grimmjow.

Come to think of it, he and Starrk are considerably smaller than the others. It’s like some sort of reverse evolution. The more powerful they are, the smaller they get.

Karin had to look away when Mongoose finally stepped over his victim and settled in above her. His partner stood guard over his mating friend, keeping an eye on the third hollow that still showed little to no interest in what was going on. The screams of the woman being raped by what was basically an animal gouged their way into Karin’s brain and she felt tears threaten the corners of her eyes. Locked in this cell, there was nothing she could do to help the poor woman. Even if she had been free she doubted she could take on one, let alone both, of the hollows before her.

Judging by the way Grimmjow had returned to his nest as soon as it had been determined which one was going to take the woman, she doubted he would offer any assistance.

That could have been me, she realized in horror.

Raking sobs died down to whimpering and she found herself looking out into the pit again. Mongoose was done and he used his fangs to snap the rope suspending her. He carried his victim off to his cell by the ropes still binding her, escorted by his companion the goat. The third one simply returned to his cell now that the event was over. When the usual Shinigami prisoners were released to clean up the mess, she noticed they looked more subdued than fearful.

Do they know her? Where they friend’s? she couldn’t help but to wonder. “I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“Shinigami and Hollows do not go into heat very often, and even when they do the chances of conceiving are low. But for some reason, perhaps something to do with the attraction of positive and negative energy, when a hollow mates with a shinigami that is in heat, there is over a ninety percent success rate,” Starrk answered solemnly.

“Is that why there are no female hollows here? Are Shinigami men forced to mate with them when they go into heat?” she asked.

“Do we look like women?” Grimmjow grunted.

Starrk sighed at Grimmjow’s response. “We don’t know. We have only ever seen this part of the facility. The only way to get out of here is to be killed, or be changed into, or back into, an Arrancar by Yhwach.”

“And the only time he does that is if you give him offspring to use as weapons,” Grimmjow grunted.

Karin felt her mouth go dry. She swallowed a few times to wet it before daring to speak again. “You mean the only way to get out of here is to rape someone?”

“Pretty much,” Grimmjow grunted. “And not all of us like the thought of tainting our genes with a shinigami bitch.”

“Have you been offered the chance to rape someone?” she asked more bitterly than she intended.

“Five times for me so far,” he grunted. “I ain’t a quincy dog,” he growled.

“Fourteen for me,” Starrk offered. “I am not into rape,” he added barely loud enough for Karin to hear.

The sound of the gate opening behind her caused her to whip her head about to see the young boy that usually delivered her food and took away her waste delivering the three evening bowls. Tears marred his face and he was barely paying her any attention.

“Hey,” she offered tentatively.

The boy jumped and splashed some of the water. Frightened and sad blue eyes stared at her. “Umm… hi,” he returned tentatively.

“You doing all right?” she asked him.

He nodded his head but she doubted he was being truthful. A moment later he shook his head and tears flowed freely down his face. “Mimi-san didn’t deserve something like that,” he whispered sadly.

So, she was right, the boy had known the victim. Before she could offer any form of comfort, a whip cracked; causing them both to jump.

“Get back to work rat, unless you want to be the next one in the pit,” a guard snarled, the same one that had tossed her into the pit she noted sourly.

The young boy scrambled to obey, wiping his tears away quickly. Karin scowled at the guard, who just grinned at her as he stalked by doing his rounds. “Fucker,” she muttered in his wake.

The middle door didn’t open so she had to use her bone to pull the three bowls towards her. She stared at her food before just sighing and handing the whole thing off to Grimmjow. One missed meal wasn’t going to hurt her. He’d been surprisingly silent during her exchange with the unknown shinigami. Given what she knew of him, she half expected some sort of tell off or snide comment for showing compassion to another.

When the lights went out she crawled into her little nest, but found herself unable to sleep. It may have just been her imagination, but she could swear she could hear soft, broken sobs drifting across the pit. Suddenly, a lot of the other sounds she heard during the night, and the phrase ‘playing with their pets,’ took on an all new meaning.

Karin didn’t sleep well for a few nights after that horror show. It hardly bothered him any, but he did keep an eye out to make sure she ate. Starrk was the one that talked to her about it, the sentimental old coot. He wasn’t into rape but he was hardly disturbed by it. It happened a lot in Hueco Mundo and a good amount of it wasn’t even traditional sex partners. When the only things to do was, as they’d discussed at the beginning; hunt, sleep and fuck, one didn’t get too choosy over partners. Fortunately, Karin didn’t turn into a blubbering mess over the matter, but she was definitely subdued. Today was another show day and it would finally be his turn to feed; unless they planned on skipping him for not killing Karin as some sort of punishment.

His eyes snapped open and his head up when the scent of blood reached his nose. Karin had her back to him but there was no mistaking the direction where the scent was coming from. He rose to his paws and moved over in three, quick steps. Her breathing was deep indicating she was still asleep. Her slumber allied some of his concern. For a moment, he thought that she might have tried to end her life using the sharpened end of her bone, but the bone was right there beside her and blood free. Now that he was closer he could tell that the blood seemed to be coming from around her waist. A heavy sniff led him between her legs.

“Fucking hell!” Karin leaped awake and swung her bone at him. The mace like end connected solidly with the side of his head and he saw stars for a moment as he backed away, pawing at the wound and trying to make the stars dancing in his eyes stop. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” she demanded sharply, brandishing her weapon at him as she rose to her feet.

“I can smell your blood,” he growled while continuing to rub at the spot she had nailed. That was a damn good hit, he admitted to himself.

“Blood?” she demanded. “Do I look like… oh, shit,” she cursed.

“Are you wounded internally?” he demanded.

“No. If you are smelling blood from below it probably means my menstrual cycle must be coming on, and me without any tampons,” she groaned.

“Ahhhh. Her womb is cleansing itself of the unfertilized eggs,” Starrk helpfully supplied.

That made sense. It happened far less frequently for hollow females, but it did happen if they didn’t find a mate during their heat cycle or failed to conceive.

Karin turned her back to him and probed between her legs. “Doesn’t look like I am bleeding yet. I will have to ask someone if I can get pads or something. If not, is there a better corner to be miserable in for a week and burry the blood?” she asked with a sigh. “Seriously, how did woman of the old ages deal with this crap.”

“Uh… the pit side,” he offered.

“That will do. Until then, maybe I can use some of the material from my pants as makeshift pads. It will make me a bit colder, but at least I won’t be soaked and coated in menstrual blood. Can I borrow your claws?” she requested while taking her pants off to reveal black panties. Not that he noticed what colour they were or anything and he definitely wasn’t looking. She didn’t seem the least bit self-conscious about being half naked around him.

He laid down and extended the claws on this left paw. Karin kneeled before him and together they managed to cut the bottom of her pants off from the knees down. Those they sliced into five-inch rectangles, one of which she folded and stuffed into her underwear while muttering something about black being a good colour to hide stains before pulling her modified pants back on.

Fortunately, when breakfast was delivered and Karin made her request for pads, the boy seemed to understand the situation and promised he would see if something could be found. Karin ate most of her meal this time, giving the meat to him despite the fact it was chicken this time. When the noise from above indicated show time was about to start, she let out a sigh and joined him by the entrance into the pit.

“You haven’t been fed in a while and if I am reading the rotation right, there is a good chance your turn will be today, right?” she asked.

“Yes,” he answered. “I cannot afford to miss another meal, unless you want me to eat you instead.”

“Almost tempting, but my death would hardly spare another or do any good. Just promise me you will make it quick.”

“Stay close to Starrk’s cell,” he ordered, not bothering to promise something he couldn’t guarantee.

The first prey was dropped into the pit and the cell to his right was opened. The poor woman barely had time to register where the threat was coming from before she was killed. Karin watched silently by his side. When the next prisoner was tossed down, a rather old male by the looks of it, his own bars rose. Karin stepped out with him and moved over to stand by Starrk’s cell. The man looked at her hopefully and this time she did look away.

The old seemed to almost always be more calm than the young and the man turned to face him as he stalked up to his prey. Grimmjow briefly wondered where the Quincy had picked this one up for he looked like he should have been in retirement, not on a battlefield.

“Hollows do what hollows do,” the old man mused as Grimmjow stopped before him. “What will it be like being a part of you a wonder?”

“Starrk says it’s like taking a long sleep,” he shrugged, thankful for the lack of screaming and whimpering. It wouldn’t have bothered him any but he did have to share a cell with Karin and having her upset with him would make the space even more unpleasant.

“A long sleep eh? I can do with one of those. I would appreciate it if you could at last make it quick.”

Grimmjow moved forward and settled his large paw on the man’s shoulder. With a hard swipe of the other, the man’s head snapped to the side and he fell lifeless to the ground. He settled into his meal, unable to resist the urge to glance at Karin out of the corner of his eye. She was watching him eat with a determined expression on her face. There was nothing she could have done to save this man. If not him another would have eaten the prisoner. He felt the man’s soul and meagre power settle easily into his own, drifting down with the rest that slumbered while he reigned over this collection. He could hardly remember a meal that had settled so well but the man had seemed at peace with dying.

He gathered the clothing in his teeth and moved back to his cell. He set the new material into his nest while Karin watched the rest of the feedings, a blank expression on her face. When it was done, her evening meal was delivered, as were a handful of what looked like swabs of cotton.

“Just put them in the waste bowl when they are used.”

“I will, thanks.”

The lad scurried off to his next task before he could be yelled at again. It was no wonder the boy had survived for so long; he knew how to keep his head down and become ignored by those far stronger than him. It was a wise tactic and one that let him get into places and learn things most others wouldn’t. Wonder what kind of knowledge he’s managed to gather in the time we have been here, Grimmjow mused to himself.

Karin ate her dinner, offering him the meat and a quarter of the water. She drank half and used the other half to give herself something resembling a sponge bath with the scraps they had made from her pants. She hung the cloth on the bars to dry and returned the bowls to the safety cage to be collect on the next round.

“What’s it like, having hundreds of souls inside you head?” she asked after the lights had gone out and they were in bed.

“Depends on the souls and the hollow. The more emotional connection the soul has with you, the longer it takes to tame it. Stronger souls can give you a good fight and even take over if you are not careful, putting you into slumber,” he answered after giving it a moment to gather his thoughts.

“Were you always the dominate soul?”

“Fuck yeah,” he grinned at her despite the fact she couldn’t see it. “If you are worried about the old man, don’t be. One of the more peaceful additions to my collection I must say. Floated right on down to slumber.”

His sharp hearing picked up her soft sigh of relief. He had almost fallen into slumber when she spoke again. “If I ever asked you to eat me and spare another, would you do it?” she asked softly.

“Maybe, if only to see your brother’s face when I tell him,” he chuckled. “Better make the request worth it though, because if the person you want to save is annoying as hell, I will eat them in the end anyway. Evil hollow, remember?”

“From what I have learned here, hollows are no more evil than a feral dog,” she rebuked. “Most are rabid and beyond saving, but not at fault for being what they are, while a few can be salvaged.”

“An interesting denotation,” Starrk mused from his cell. “And one I find oddly fitting,” he chuckled.

“Speak of yourself, mangy mutt. I don’t know any cat that has ever been fully tamed,” he snorted, affronted at the mere thought of it.

“Well, there are more records of big cats attacking their handlers than wolves,” Karin admitted. “Quite a few countries with wolves don’t even have records of wolf attacks by healthy animals. The few records there are contain individuals that were half dog, had rabies or some other disease, were badly injured, or were frequently fed and socialized with humans.”

“I am a coyote, not a wolf,” Starrk corrected her.

“Might be where the whole ‘wolf attack’ came from, or at least, most of them. Coyotes do have a reputation of attacking people if I recall right,” she mused.

“Perhaps,” Starrk agreed. “If there was another way to avoid regressing, we would not be eating the food being tossed into the arena.”

“I know,” she sighed. “I don’t like it, but at least their souls are merely sleeping within your own and are not being completely obliterated from existence. Even the others make the kills quick from what I have seen so far.”

Well at least she isn’t trying to preach about there being a better way. Her brother could take a page or ten out of her book. I had to listen to him whine for a week at the start about me hunting others. Had to explain it to him over a dozen times before I got it through his thick skull. Granted, it probably helps that she hasn’t recognised any of them yet, nor is she one of them.

She was extremely thankful the boy who delivered her meals had been able to find the cotton swabs. They were not as good as tampon or pads, but they worked and the scraps they had torn from her pants combined with the water delivered three times a day helped keep her relatively clean.

Now all I need is a toothbrush, some toothpaste, and a hair bush, she mused. I wonder if I can even salvage my hair at this point. It’s basically one giant, sand caked, bird’s nest. My breath must be not so pleasant and my teeth feel so greasy.

Grimmjow let out a yawn and stretch beside her as he rose, revealing fangs larger than most knives she’s ever seen and claws that were just as wicked looking. A commotion in the pit drew her attention and she watched as several of the shinigami prisoners with rakes, wheelbarrows of sand and empty buckets moved towards the cells. The middle bars actually rose instead of the small door clicking open.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Cleaning day. They do it once a month,” Grimmjow answered as he picked up his bedding one garment at a time, gave it a good shake to flick out as much sand as he could and moved it to the middle section.

“Want some help?” she asked rising to her feet.

“Sure.”

She helped him shake the sand out of the uniforms and move them. Most of the clothes were from shinigami shihakusho, but there was a good mix of quincy uniforms too, much to her satisfaction.

“Can you please move to the inner cage,” a shy voice requested as she was setting down her own piece of bedding. Karin turned to see the lad who fed her standing before their bars clutching a rake and looking at them shyly.

“Of course,” Karin agreed easily as she followed Grimmjow into the middle cage. She did notice that another prisoner in the inner ring hit a switch and the middle bars fell while the boy reach up and to the side on the arena end and the doors opened.

Now ain’t that interesting, she mused. I wonder if it’s a physical switch or something electrical. Are the switches locked out when they are not cleaning the cell? I can’t see any reason why they would be. It’s not like the shinigami are going to let the hollows out to eat them nor can I see any of the hollows releasing the others. What good would it do anyway?

There was not a lot of space in the middle section, but it was more than enough for the two of them to sit comfortably. Given what she’d seen of the other hollows, she wondered how they could comfortably fit between the bars. The boy started at the back, watching Grimmjow carefully, but not fearfully, as he raked out the majority of the sand. She couldn’t help but to wonder how many had ended up as hollow food when they hadn’t been paying attention to the beast on the other side of the bars. With most of the sand removed, she could see now the middle section was raised slightly and only a very thin layer of sand was over the sandstone floor.

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Um… a few years I think,” he answered.

“Wow, that long?”

He nodded his head.

“My name is Karin, what’s yours?” she asked.

“Hana…” the rest of his response was cut off by the crack of a whip and the boy jumped in fear and pain.

“No talking slave, unless you want to be the next one into the pit,” the same guard that had thrown her into the pit threatened Hana with a snarl.

“Fuck off asshole,” she snapped at him.

The man froze and turned to face her. Hana inched carefully away from the growing confrontation, the smart lad. One of his hands rubbed the spot on his shoulder the whip had struck.

“You got something to say bitch?” he demanded, striding up to stand at the entrance of the cage.

“More than something,” she shot back. “Pathetic assholes like you make me sick, throwing your weight around against people who can’t defend themselves. Probably why you ended up on guard duty here, isn’t it? You are too weak and a big ass cowered to be trusted where the real men go. Hell, if they put you into a squad, the rest of your team mates would probably be killed within a day from your own fuckups.”

“Shut it hollow whore!” he snapped, cracking his whip towards the bars. Karin didn’t even flinch as the leather hit the mettle.

“Bet you would recognize a whore a mile away. Ever not have to pay for it, or are you another one of those wretches that have to take it in order to get any because not even a whore would touch you?”

His face was turning a marvellous shade of red and she caught Grimmjow’s claws digging slightly into the sand, most likely out of trying to conceal his own laughter at her taunts. Other than that, he was being marvellously still save for the twitching of the end of his tail, which was hidden from the quincy idiot with his bulk.

“Someone needs to teach you a lesson in respect bitch,” the guard snarled, stepping into the cage and marching up to her. She leaned casually against the wall right in front of the bars.

“Well it certainly shouldn’t be you. I doubt you have an iota of intelligence in that empty skull of yours, let alone anything that could be taught. You are one of those men that have naked pictures of slaves hung up on the ceiling of his bunk since it’s the closest you will ever get to being laid, aren’t you?”

“Bitch!” he snarled.

Karin smirked as he threw a punch at her through the bars. She dodged the strike and grabbed his arm, holding him in place. Fury turned to abject terror as he realized his mistake far too late. Grimmjow, who’d been completely stationary and forgotten, moved quickly to clamp his fangs on the arm she was holding. The man screamed before it turned into a gurgling mess as Grimmjow’s claws found his throat through the bars. A savage yank of his head had the dead man’s arm detached from the body, sending blood spraying everywhere. He settled down to enjoy his snack, taking his time stripping the flesh away after removing the tattered remains of the sleeve.

“Like I said, dumb ass idiot,” Karin snorted, casually wiping a few drops of blood from her face. Alright, that was gross. I can’t wait to wipe this shit off, but first I got a display to put on.

Hana stood there watching with his hands clutching his rake. Oddly enough, he didn’t seem too disturbed by the violence for someone who was so shy. Yells and all sorts of other commotion occurred and before long three other guards were standing at the entrance to their cell. Grimmjow snagged his prey with his claws and pulled the corpse flush to the bars. He growled threateningly at the intruders, just daring them to try and take the body from him.

“What happened here?” the guard with a golden cord around his left shoulder commanded in a rather firm voice that proved he, at least, had earned his rank. The other two couldn’t keep their eyes off their dead comrade.

“Idiot got too close to the bars mouthing off,” Karin answered with a shrug.

“This true?” he demanded of Hana.

“Yes sir,” the boy answered dutifully.

“Told that idiot his attitude was going to get him killed one of these days,” left flanking guard muttered.

Gold cord frowned, but didn’t reprimand lefty for speaking, nor did he deny the fact.

“Shall we retrieve his body?” the other guard asked.

Grimmjow let out a feral growl around the flesh in his mouth and the two flunkies took a step back, hands reaching for the blades on their hips. Gold cord didn’t even adjust his gaze or flinch at the threat.

“I don’t know near as much about hollows as I do about wild cats, but I am pretty certain trying to remove their food is a good way to lose an arm or leg yourself. I am not going to be stupid enough to try, but be my guest.” She gestured to the corpse crumpled against the bar hooked in Grimmjow‘s claws.

The two flanking guards paled at the thought and glanced nervously at gold cord. He frowned before turning smartly about. “Finish your chores, filth,” he commanded Hana. “It shall be interesting to see how you think of these beasts after tomorrow,” gold cord commented to her before marching away with the other two flanking him, “when they are done with someone you actually know.”

That comment caused her to frown. She refrained from calling out to demand what he meant by that, but just barely. No doubt trying to bait me. The list of Shinigami I know is pretty limited and consist mostly of the higher ranks. Somehow, I doubt Toshiro or Renji or even Rukia would end up being tossed down here. Granted, most of that has to do with the fact they would suffer a worse fate than being hollow food since they would have actual intelligence these bastards might be able to use. Think I would prefer the pit.

“Would you like us to open the middle bars, Grimmjow-san, so you can finish your meal?” Hana asked shyly and politely, breaking her out of her musing.

“Go for it,” Grimmjow smirked, removing himself from the bars so they could be raised.

“Got to say, that was worth watching,” the shinigami in the inner ring commented. “Good to see these bastards get a taste of their own medicine.”

“That’s not a nice thing to say Harunobo-san,” Hana admonished. “Unohana-taichou would be unhappy to hear you say such things.”

Hana closed the opened end of the cage while Harunobo opening the middle set. Grimmjow pulled the rest of the corpse into the middle section before the two secured the cell once more and continued about their chores.

“Any word on the outside world?” Grimmjow asked after swallowing his latest mouthful.

“I am afraid not, Grimmjow-san. They keep us in the dark pretty well and talking is very discouraged, so it‘s hard to get news from any newcomers.”

“Should be easier now with that bastard dead. Most of the others don’t care, but you had him pegged down pretty good, Karin-san,” Harunobo complimented. “Jerk liked throwing his weight around all right.”

“You know each other?” Karin asked curiously.

“Brat was stationed at Las Noches,” Grimmjow grunted. “Braver than he looks, or stupider.”

Karin stared at the flushing boy in surprise.

“I was just doing what I could to help,” Hana murmured. “I was taken during a raid,” he added. “They deemed me too weak and pathetic to throw into the pit, so I have been cleaning stalls and helping with…” he trailed off, looking sadly at his rake.

“Brats part of the healing unit, so they make him deliver the pups and cubs the bastards are breeding,” Grimmjow supplied.

Karin felt her heart go to the boy. What must it be like assisting people he knew give birth to the hollow young they had been raped into having? She couldn’t imagine it.

“It’s not very pleasant,” Harunobo added. “More so because of the reason behind the pregnancies. Most of the births actually go pretty smoothly. Still, it’s a death sentence to any woman who has them.”

Harunobo continued down the corridor to no doubt operate the bars of the next cell while Hana finished raking out the sand before using a broom to get the rest of it. He passed her a smaller broom and she swept up the red and white grains from the middle section out to the main section so it could be removed. Rubbing sand on the blood splatters on her skin also helped to clear most of it pretty well. Guards came and inspected the cell, no doubt looking for escape attempts or tampering that could threaten the integrity of it. They completely ignored the body Grimmjow was snacking on. When the cell was deemed secured, Hana refilled it with clean sand before securing the outer gate and moving on to another cell.

“Was he even worth the meal?” Karin asked as she moved the pile of clothes back into the main room so Grimmjow could clean the blood from himself and finish the last bits of his meal.

“Weak ass fucker was hardly worth the foul taste,” he grunted. “Still, worth it,” he smirked at her. “How many more do you think you can bait into my fangs?”

“Probably not very many, if any,” she sighed. “He seemed like a real dick, easy to rile up. The others are probably too professional to be tricked like that and they will be on their guard for a while.”

“He was probably one affront short of being fed to us anyhow, which is why they didn’t bother to push the issue,” Starrk offered from his own cell. “Still, that was clever of you,” he complimented.

“Wasn’t all me. I was just the bait that fool fell for.”

When the evening meal came, Karin dared to offer Grimmjow a sponge bath, mainly because she could still see some blood in a few spots, like behind his ears. He seemed more amused at the offer than affronted and she used half of the evening water and several of the rags to give him a rub down. The little bowl was rather muddy by the time she was done.

She slept rather well that evening. While she knew she shouldn’t take satisfaction in anyone being killed, let alone in such a manner, she couldn’t bring herself to care in this case. She hated bullies and he’d been an obvious one. Besides, it was easier to dwell on a jerk getting his due than it was to dwell over the fact tomorrow was another feeding day and gold cord had taunted that one of the victim would be someone she knew. Starrk hadn’t been fed on the last one so there was a good chance he would end up feeding on this one.


	5. Chapter 5

I am really starting to get tired of rice, Karin thought morosely as she stared at the bowl in her hands. As usual, she had passed the meat to Grimmjow and stuck with the sticky grains. At least it is cooked right and not lumpy, crunchy or mushy. Still, I would love to have a bit of sauce of some sort. Something to mix it up a little. Anymore of this and I am not positive I will be able to force my body to swallow.

She opened her mouth and spooned another mouthful in before washing it down with a mouthful of water. The rice wasn’t dry per say, but it was starting to stick in her throat. Even her body was starting to rebel at the same old food for weeks at a time. 

I am almost half tempted to skip a few meals until I am hungry enough to want to eat anything, but that would hardly be intelligent and the last thing I want is for them to stop feeding me altogether.

Hana collected the three bowls when she was done, two now empty and one filled up. She didn’t envy whoever had to clean the latrine bowls. A diet of nothing but rice and water was resulting in not so solid waste.

I don’t think I have lost much weight yet, but this is certainly not a healthy diet. I wonder if the other women are fed the same meals or if they eat the meat. A pregnant woman can’t survive on rice and water with only a bit of meat. They need vitamins, minerals, all that good stuff. You know, vegetables and fruits. Maybe they are being given supplements, that’s a possibility. Still, they need far more than what’s in these bowls and vitamin pills only go so far.

She turned her thoughts away from the lack of interesting food and towards the upcoming feeding session. “What do you think that jerk meant yesterday when he said someone I knew was going to be next?” she couldn’t help but to ask apprehensively.

“Maybe one of your brother’s friends got snagged,” Grimmjow shrugged. “Dip-shit did comment he wanted to see how a human did against us when he tossed your ass down here. Not that there is any chance of survival without them being able to use their reiatsu. A normal human would have a better chance of survival against a pissed off jaguar than any shinigami has against us.”

“That’s not very reassuring,” she groaned. “Why can’t we use our reiatsu down here anyhow?”

“The walls are laced with some sort of stone. Not the seki stuff the shinigami use, that would drain our reiatsu and make feeding us to gain strength pointless, but it does stop it from being manipulated. It’s kind of gives reishi a sort of oily coating and trying to grasp it just causes it to slip between your paws. It’s like trying to capture air,” he snarled in obvious frustration.

Karin closed her eyes and tried only to find that Grimmjow was right. She could feel the particles floating all about her, but when she tried to grasp them they simply slipped from her fingers. Trying to grasp air is a good analogy. Even water is more solid and manipulative than this.

It was just after lunch when the stadium started to fill up again. She felt her apprehension rise as she sat before the bars, trying to see up and get a glance of the stands. The angle was just enough that she could see the first few rows of spectators across from her. Grimmjow moved to lay down beside her. She felt her hands clenching and unclenching as she waited for the event to start.

‘Someone I know.’ Who could they mean? One of Ichi-nii’s friends like Grimmjow suggested? They are spiritually aware after all and dick-wad did take me. I almost pity the hollow that would be unleashed on Tatsuki. She’s a far better fighter than I am and would probably snap their neck easily. She doesn’t need weapons or reiatsu to be a dangerous weapon. A thought suddenly dawned on her and she stiffened. They don’t mean Hana do they? Would they throw him in here after talking to me yesterday? I just saw him a few minutes ago when he collected my dishes so it seems unlikely. I doubt they would toss Nel down here. I haven’t seen any female hollows, or any hollows at all being put into the pit for lunch. It seems like they are held elsewhere.

The first person in the pit wasn’t someone she recognized, nor was Starrk chosen to eat her. She felt guilt follow quickly after her relief that the woman wasn’t anyone she knew. She shouldn’t feel relief that someone was chosen to be murdered by a hollow just because she didn’t know that person. There was one thing she could say about the quincy, they were not sexist. Three men followed the woman to their deaths. Excitement really started to lace the air after the fourth prisoner was killed and consumed.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“Feeding frenzy,” Grimmjow growled, rising to his feet. “They are going to drop a cage in the pit with several prisoners and open up more than one cell. Stay close if ours is chosen,” he ordered.

“Right.” She rose to her feet and grasped her weapon tightly, ready to defend herself if need be.

A cage was lowered into the centre of the pit with what looked like six women in it. It was hard to see if she recognized any of them but it seemed unlikely considering the sea of black uniforms. Grimmjow started to stalk back and forth behind her, no doubt loosening his muscles as opposed to any form of agitation. She did the same, doing some stretches and giving her body a good shake to loosen it.

“Starrk, if you are let out too are you going to help us?” she asked apprehensively.

“I will assist you Karin,” he agreed with a sigh.

“Thanks. I appreciate it.”

The cage the women were in fell apart and the six of them huddled together, shaking in terror. Karin had honestly expected them to bolt like most of the prisoner had. More than a dozen cages opened, including theirs and Starrk’s. Starrk walked calmly out and she moved to his side while Grimmjow bolted ahead, but not at the women. While most of the free hollows made for the women at various speeds, several quickly turned on each other with a good amount of hatred.

It was chaos within moments. The women were unable to hold their defensive line in the face of so many hollows, most of them twice their size, barrelling into and scattering them. Screams and snarls echoed in the pit and it was hard not to cover her ears at the noisy din. She lost sight of Grimmjow’s much smaller bulk in the growing melee. A few of the hollows hovering on the edge looked her way, but their eyes shifted to the coyote standing silently by her side and they quickly looked away to either join in the scrap for the women, turn on each other, or sit calmly in front of their cages also watching the melee.

The confrontation began to die down a little, or at least spread out as territories and prey were claimed. Grimmjow was dragging what looked like a hindquarter of some unfortunate creature towards his cell; the rest of the body lost somewhere in the melee. The sand was kicked up so she couldn’t see through the cloud it was making very well. Something black darted out from under one lumbering hollow that reminded her of a polar bear, due to its white color and large size, and raced towards them. Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized the woman, even if she was absent her glasses. It was the white armband that truly gave her away.

“Ise-san!” she shouted while running towards the woman.

“Karin!” Nanao gapped at her. Despite the fukutaichou’s shock, the woman didn’t slow down as they raced towards each other. 

Karin tightened the grip on her weapon as she ran. Two of the hollows were chasing after Nanao and Karin felt herself curse as she realized there was no way to make it in time to help.

Before she could shout a warning to Nanao to tuck and roll, a white blur flew pass her as Starrk raced ahead. The deer-like one skidded to a halt in a flurry of kicked up sand and quickly backed nervously away, but the ox-like one had his head down and was charging blindly. Starrk ducked to the side at the last second and darted in behind the horned head. Sharp fangs latched onto the ox’s throat and it let out a bellow of surprise, followed by pain and terror as it tripped and hit the ground hard enough that she felt the vibrations. Karin skidded to a halt and Nanao ran pass her before also sliding to a stop and whipping around to come stand by her side.

“What is going on here?” Nanao demanded while falling into a defensive stance.

Karin didn’t get a chance to answer as she spotted a jackal like hollow running towards them now that Starrk was tangled with his own kill. She pushed Nanao aside and brought the bone between her and the snapping fangs. She lost her breath as she was borne to the ground under the much heavier creature. It let out a muffled yelp a moment later and jerked its head away from her. Nanao stood by her side, her knuckled dripping goo. The jackal leaped away from them completely and Karin remained still as Grimmjow suddenly stood over her, growling warningly up at the jackal. Jackal snarled back, but wisely backed away slowly, clearly not foolish enough to tangle with the former Espada.

“To the cell,” he commanded her.

She rose to her feet and dusted herself off while obeying the commonsense order. Starrk was dragging his kill towards the dens and Grimmjow turned to help him. Most of the sand had settled now and cliques had clearly been formed. Of the many hollows that had been released, four were now being eaten. Of the six women… Nanao was by her side and she could hear sobs from across the way of another survivor, but was unable to see her through the bulk of the ram-like hollow that seemed to have her. Pain flashed briefly across Nanao’s face and she hesitated a moment, before reluctantly following Karin back towards the two open cells. There was nothing they could do for the other survivor without getting themselves killed in the process. Of the other four women, there was no sign save for scraps of clothing. In a frenzy like this, the food was consumed quickly before it could be stolen.

“What is this place?” Nanao demanded once they were near the two cells and standing guard over the feasting hollows. Starrk and Grimmjow had pulled their kills closer to their cells and were quickly gobbling down the prey they had taken down while the two women kept an eye on the others. It was a wonder they didn’t choke with how fast they were eating.

“From my understanding, they are using this place to ‘train’ and ‘raise’ hollows, as well as some sort of sick entertainment,” Karin answered. “Prisoners are tossed down to be fodder and occasionally…” her eyes darted to the cell the ram had dragged the other survivor, “breeding,” she added softly, unable to use the R word to describe the other horror that took place here.

Nanao’s eyes darted her way in horror before turning back to watch the other hollows in the arena. Most had returned to their cells, complete with resealed gates. A few were devouring their kills as quickly as possible while a few others stalked around, no doubt hopeful for scraps. It reminded Karin of the documentaries she’d seen of lions and hyenas stalking each other to try and steal their kills. Up above the crowd was dispersing with excited chatter, though she did catch an undertone of disappointment.

Probably because Nanao survived, the sick fuckers. Seriously, who gets their kicks off watching people get torn to shreds? I am really starting to question the sanity of those that use to rule the roman empire, or at least, those that encouraged and endorsed the more bloody games. Chariot racing, nice sport, man eating lions, not so much.

She did catch sight of Yhwach standing at the edge of his balcony and looking at them with an unreadable expression on his face. She raised her hand in a one finger salute that had him raise an eye and, from the way his shoulders moved, no doubt included an amused chuckle at her defiance. Nanao had followed her gaze and her mouth drew into a grim line at the sight of the quincy king standing above them. Karin turned her focus back to the stalkers, ignoring the man watching them and gave a warning look to Jackal when the hollow moved a little closer their way than she liked.

Grimmjow rose from the remains of his meal, mere scraps at this point, and walked towards them. “She is not my responsibility,” he declared firmly before moving into his cell.

“Huh?” both woman responded intelligently.

“You are cruel Grimmjow,” Starrk sighed, “to leave me with the adjacent to the man who killed my Lilinette.”

“You’re the idiot that saved her,” Grimmjow pointed out mercilessly, and he was right. Starrk could have easily tackled her to stop her from running off, leaving Nanao to fend for herself.

“So I did,” Starrk admitted. “Come here, Ise-san. You can gain weapons from our meal’s fangs and claws. Afterwards, you will apparently be bedding down with me.”

Nanao looked between the coyote and Karin uncertainly.

“Starrk’s safe, or at least safer than remaining out here with them,” Karin gestured to the few remaining hollows that were fighting over the scraps others had already left or hovering, waiting to leap in at the chance of scraps. Jackal was watching them intently with his ears up. “Grabbing some fangs and claws as weapons is also not a bad idea.”

“Fair enough,” Nanao sighed before helping her to de-claw and fang the scraps that remained, with some help from Starrk’s powerful jaws and sharp teeth. She hesitantly following Starrk into his cell, but did enter without needing to be coaxed.

The bars came down the moment all four of them were inside, securing them in the cells. Karin sat near the front, keeping an eye on the hollows remaining in the pit while Grimmjow settled down to clean the blood off himself. The jackal hollow was sniffing over their remains and pulling off what few scraps remained. Now that the adrenalin was over, the bruises and sand burns she’d acquired from her meeting with the ground were making themselves painfully known. 

“We thought that you were dead,” Nanao spoke first. “Your sister called us in a panic after you hadn’t come home for two days. No one had seen you or seemed to know what happened. I was dispatched to try and find you, but we couldn’t find any trace of what happened. Your trail just disappeared outside of town.”

At least they had noticed she was missing and looked for her, and now she felt a great deal of guilt for making Yuzu worry about her. First their brother, then their father, and now her. Poor Yuzu must be beside herself in grief and worry. Her entire family was gone, leaving her alone with what few high school friends she still kept in touch with.

“I was chasing a hollow out of my territory when some dickwad named Hashwald obliterated it and snagged me,” she explained for Nanao’s benefit.

“That would explain why your own trail continued long after the hollow’s ended,” Nanao mused.

“Yeah. Anyhow, he apparently confused me for one of Ichi-nii’s friends and wanted to see how well a human did in this hellhole of a pit. Lucky for me, Grimmjow was the one chosen to eat me and after getting my but whooped a bit, we recognized each other and called a truce.”

“You fared well for a human,” her cellmate grunted softly, so softly she wondered if she was even supposed to hear the compliment.

“Now you know my rather sad, little story. How the hell did you end up here?” she asked Nanao. “I thought Shunsui damn near kept you glued to his side.”

“Patrol mission on the outskirts of one of the districts,” Nanao answered. “We were ambushed and most of the patrol was taken down before we even realized it was a quincy attack. They don‘t have any interest in the souls of the Rukongai and have never shown up there before. We were checking out reports of several hollows trying to find an easy meal. They show up there a few times a year and need to be chased out.”

“Do you have any news of Ichi-nii?” she asked hopefully.

“He’s still patrolling the sands here last I heard. He was pretty upset over your disappearance; furious I would even say. They moved Yuzu to Soul Society to be on the safe side, she is staying at Kuchiki manor, and the rest of your human friends are staying at Urahara’s and patrolling in groups now,” Nanao reported. “We didn’t want to risk your disappearance as being a dedicated strike against him.”

“At least Yuzu is safe,” she sighed in relief. “You said you were checking out hollow rumours, when did those rumours start?” she asked suspiciously.

“A few days ago.”

“Were there any hollows?”

“We found two, basic level ones, exactly as reported. It was shortly after we cleansed them the attack came.”

I have never heard of the quincy using low level hollows, they are too unpredictable. Still, all they would have to do would be to set two loose and let them do their thing. Nanao may not even have been the target. I wonder how many prisoners have been captured in baited traps like this.

“Do patrols often go missing checking these reports?”

“No. A person or two may occasionally be killed in the line of duty and injuries are common. Why do you ask?” Nanao questioned.

“Just thinking about baited traps. I’ve seen a good number of Shinigami tossed down here,” she added softly, mindful of the fact some of them might have been people Nanao knew.

“It’s possible a few may have been taken that way, but we haven’t noticed any increase in the reports.” She got the impression Nanao was frowning. “What made you think about that idea in the first place?”

“Yesterday one of the guards taunted me over the fact someone being tossed into this hellhole was going to be someone I knew. I didn’t even know that they knew we know each other. It’s not common knowledge as far as I know.”

“Perhaps one of their spies spotted me delivering letters to you one day,” Nanao offered.

Further conversation was cut off by the arrival of dinner. She used her scraps of cloth and some of the left-over water to help Grimmjow get the blood off of hard to reach places. She tried her best not to notice, or at least comment, on the way his eye closed halfway and he leaned into her hand as she washed and scratched behind his ears.

“Not a word,” he growled, or at least tried to growl. It came out more like one of those happy growl/moans dogs give when they are happy and content.

“I don’t know what you are referring too,” she returned, giving the spot behind his other ear a good scratch despite the fact she had already cleaned it.

The lights clicked out almost as soon as the bowls had been retrieved. She settled into her own little nest and tried to get some sleep, but it was pretty hard with the memory of the feeding frenzy so fresh before her eyes. Starrk and Grimmjow had recognized what was going on right away, which suggested this was not something new but rather something that they had seen several times.

At least Nanao-san is safe, or at least as safe as can be given our current situation. Not that Grimmjow and Starrk are bad company, but it will be nice to have another woman to talk to and have someone I actually know be around. It was clear they had meant for her to die out there. Hopefully they won’t try to rectify that situation any more than they did with my own. Still, I can’t help but to wonder how much longer they will let us remain as ‘freeloaders’ in these cells before they either kill us outright or simply stop feeding us. I can’t see these bastard feeding prisoners that are serving no purpose to their grand design for very long.

Grimmjow let out a loud yawn and she heard him shift in his nest. Despite herself, she couldn’t help but to recall how he looked with his eyes closed in pleasure. It was to that image she drifted off to sleep.

Good thing he can’t read my mind or I probably wouldn‘t wake up in the morning.


	6. Chapter 6

It was terrifying being locked in a cell with five others and knowing that you were likely to die in the next hour. She really wanted to panic, but she couldn’t. She was still the leader of these other women and she was not going to stop being that leader until they were all dead.

“Hold strong. No matter what we face, stick together and we might get out of this alive,” she said firmly.

Despite the white faces of her five charges, they nodded their heads and stood back to back the best they could in their little cage. It had a bit of room, but not much. Their weapons had been taken from them upon capture and they had been separated into different cells. For some reason the six of them had been chosen to go into this cage an hour ago while the other four had been led away. What sounded like a cheering crowd came from below.

“Alright bitches, hope that fake god of yours is listening because you are about to be mauled to death,” one of the guards laughed loudly.

The cage was suddenly lifted and the floor fell out below them. They were lowered into a stadium with a pit of sand directly below them. Nanao felt her stomach plummet at the sight, followed by fear as the sound of snarling and excited hollows reached her ears.

Soul King help us, she thought in terror as the bars to their cage fell away, followed by the bars of most of the cells lining the pit raising. She felt suddenly calm as death charged at them. She felt a moment of pride at the women standing at her back as they maintained their circle until the first of the large hollows crashed into them.

With no reiatsu, no weapons, and nothing but their own bulk verses that of the large beasts before them, they were instantly scattered. Later she will be horrified at the image of one of her charges being snapped up by two different hollows and pulled in half. The sight of another one being swallowed whole with a third screaming in agony as she was crushed by the clashing beasts would flash behind her eyelids for many nights. Nanao was barely able to duck a swinging tail and had to roll away from stomping feet. She lost her glasses and didn’t bother to try and retrieve them. Her smaller size made it easier to remain unnoticed amongst the fighting beasts and she eventually managed to find her way to the edge of the conflict. With no comrades left, her best bet was to get to a wall and pray for the best.

Not that it will do me much good, she thought grimly as she rolled under another tail and regained her feet. I think I would have better luck fighting off a furious bull or enraged elephant.

“Ise-san!” The shout grabbed her attention as she raced away from the melee, her eyes meeting that of the young woman racing towards her. Shock rippled through her as she stared at a woman everyone had thought dead.

“Karin!” she called back stunned.

Another hollow ran pass Karin, the girl hardly even glancing at the Adjucus that was barely larger than a big dog. Nanao felt a flash of fear but the coyote wasn’t heading for her and, giving the trembling of the earth behind her from what was no doubt pursuit, she wasn’t going to slow down. Better the smaller dog ahead of her than the huge creatures behind her.

She ran pass Karin with her momentum before sliding to a stop and turning to face the young woman. Karin was standing in a defensive stance with what looked like a bone clenched in her hand. The Coyote, despite its smaller size, had one of the large hollows down in the sand with its fangs latched onto the throat. Another was backing off and returning to the melee with no small amount of fear for the smaller hollow. She quickly moved to stand beside Karin, falling into a defensive stance of her own that had been hammered into her at the academy. Despite the carnage, Karin seemed relatively calm.

For her to be this calm, how much of this has she seen? How long has she been here? Or maybe she is just putting on a brave face too. The last thought came from noticing that her companion’s hands were rather white around the bone she was holding like a weapon. And what is going on here? She asked Karin that very question. Her answer was a violent shove she wasn’t expecting, but it did save her life as a jackal took Karin to the ground. The only thing that had saved Karin’s own life was the bone jammed into its mouth, keeping those teeth from closing on her face. Nanao took a step back and swung her fist into its eye with all the force she could manage behind her slim body. It let out a yelp and then leaped away as another Adjucus landed protectively over Karin, one Nanao was surprised to recognize as non-other than Grimmjow, Ichigo’s patrol partner.

Seems like a lot of people we thought dead are proving not to be.

“Back to the cell,” Grimmjow ordered once it was clear the jackal wasn’t going to risk its life tackling the far more powerful former Espada.

“What is this place?” she questioned as she followed Karin to a safer distance. The answer horrified her. Raising hollows into power? Breeding? The thought was disgusting and terrifying given the larger size of the common Adjucus. Death would be far preferable. Hell, death was the final result anyhow with the laws in place.

Grimmjow and the unknown coyote must have had some sort of pact, for the two settled into the meal the smaller canine had taken down and were gobbling up the meat as fast as they could. Karin stood nearby, her eyes scanning the others constantly and a sturdy grip on her weapon. Nanao knew Adjucus needed to eat to prevent regressing, and with so many vying for food, it was wise indeed to eat as much as one could as quickly as possible.

With most of the confrontation now dying down, she could hear the sound of sobs and her eyes darted across the way to where a male sheep like hollow was herding Mihane towards its own cell. She almost took a step forward, but the practical part of her stopped her. There was no way she could get across the stadium to the other woman unarmed and lacking any control over her reiatsu. She felt her heart clench as the Adjucus gave Mihane one last head but into his cell before the bars came down, sealing them both inside. Of the other four women that had accompanied her into this pit of hell, the only thing that remained was splatters of blood upon the sand and the torn remains of their uniforms. Later she would mourn their loss, but for now she had to be strong if she was going to survive this ordeal.

She was starting to get very nervous as the remaining hollows either finished off their meals or were getting a bit bolder about stalking around the ones that were still eating. Jackal was watching, not the hollows, but them with an intent she really didn’t like. Grimmjow was the first to rise and walk pass them with the rather odd comment about her not being his responsibility.

“To leave me with the adjacent to the man who killed my Lilinette,” the coyote mourned.

Nanao blinked and looked closer at the coyote. Now that she had names, the form made perfect sense. Coyote Starrk, the very man her taichou had faced off against during the winter war. It was clear he knew who she was even though they had never met. Either Aizen gave his Espada info on all of us and he remembered it, or Karin mentioned it during her time here. Either is just as likely. I hope he doesn’t hold a grudge against me for Shunsui’s actions during the war or things can get really uncomfortable.

“Come here, Ise-san. You can gain weapons from our meal’s fangs and claws. Then, you will apparently be bedding down with me.”

She looked between Starrk and Karin uncertainly. Karin had been here far longer and was clearly on amiable terms with the former First. With some assurance from Karin, they gathered the fangs and teeth, split them between each other, and then she found herself following Starrk into his cell, which was conveniently beside the one Grimmjow and Karin were sharing. The first thing she noticed was the only thing in the cell; the pile of shihakusho. There was more white in it than there should be and a better examination showed that there were several quincy uniforms mixed in. Starrk settled into the pile with a sigh of content and closed his eyes. She didn’t think he was sleeping, but he seemed peaceful at least and not likely to suddenly turn on her for a meal. It must have been later in the evening because after a short conversation with Karin, a meal was brought for her by a man she recognized from the 4th, but whose name she couldn’t recall at the moment. She was surprised to see him and he looked at her sadly before offering her three bowls.

“This meat looks suspicious,” she muttered uncertainly.

“Hollow,” Starrk answered with a yawn.

She stared at it in disgust and debated on even eating the rice it was sitting on. “Do you want it?” she offered. If I have to share a cell with him, might as well at least try and make friends. I wouldn’t blame him for hating me just because of his past with Shunsui.

“I would like that.”

She picked out the meat and held her hand out tentatively. Not that I could really stop him if he wanted to bite my hand off, or take my throat out, she couldn’t help but to think ruefully with no small amount of fear. He’d taken a hollow several times his size down with ease just an hour ago.

Starrk gently took the meat from her offered hand before returning his head to his paws. Now that there was no longer a life or death situation, she took a moment to study him while she drank some of the water and tried some of the rice. He looked like a white scaled coyote with only one blemish, a black mark on his paw that she realized was the numeral 1. A hole went through his body similar to the one Grimmjow had, just higher up along his back to line up with his ribcage instead of his stomach. His eyes were a lazy, almost dull grey when he bothered to open them.

She finished the two bowls and stared at the third curiously.

“For desert?” she asked.

“Bodily waste,” Starrk answered. She couldn’t help the blush that spread across her face at the thought of using a bowl to pee in with a male audience. “I will not watch,” he assured her, even going so far as to shift so his back was too her.

This is probably the most embarrassing moment in my life, bar none. Okay, maybe not the most as Shunsui has dragged me into a good number and pulled some pretty ludicrous crap on me over the decades, but it’s definitely up there. I suppose I should be thankful that I am not expected to just go in a corner. That would get foul real fast.

The lights went out shortly after she put the three bowls back in the safety cell and they were retrieved by the same man who had delivered them, sending her into pitch black. She barely held back a yelp of fear as her vision suddenly vanished, leaving her standing in the middle of the cell.

Okay, don’t panic. It doesn’t sound like Karin is panicking so she obviously expected this. First things first, sit down so I don’t walk into a wall or trip over something and hurt myself. It would just be the cruellest irony to land on one of those fangs and have it stab me through the chest and kill me or something. Killed by the very thing meant to protect me, oh yeah that would go over so well.

Okay, listen. There, I can hear Starrk’s breathing from my right. If I head left I should hit the other wall. Not a good idea to sleep near, let alone against, the bars. If I pull my arms into my uniform I can use it like a sort of blanket for now. Damn it gets cold in here fast once the light goes out. I don’t recall any heat coming from the artificial sun. Do they turn the heaters off too when the lights go out or something?

“The nest is over here, Ise-san. I forget Shinigami do not see so well in the dark.”

“The what?” she asked intelligently.

“The nest. It is cold at night and it is wise to share body heat. Despite the history I share with Taichou-san, I assure you I will not harm you, nor attempt to harm you, while we slumber. For now, we are pack.”

“Oh.” Well, he is right. It is getting pretty damn cold and curling up amongst all that… clothing would be wise. Besides, it’s not like there is much I could do to stop him from killing me if he wanted to and, from what Shunsui reported during the war about their encounter, Starrk hardly seems like the violent sort.

“I will come to you. It would be foolish to trip on the sand in the dark and harm yourself. Brace yourself, I am about to touch you.”

Even with the warning, she still jumped and let out a yelp of surprise as his cold nose touched her hand. Her hand returned to his head a moment later and she was thankful for the darkness that was no doubt hiding her blush of embarrassment. He’d even warned her! Starrk moved his head under her hand until it rested on his neck. His hide was surprisingly warm under her hand and relatively smooth.

“This way.” He took a step forward and she followed his lead until she felt the edge of the nest with her feet. “Make yourself comfortable first. I can see well enough to find my own place.”

Against the wall would be best. With it at my back and a few pieces of cloth, I should be able to create a little ‘shelter’ that should heat up with my body heat alone. Damn I wish I could see. It’s bad enough everything further than ten feet away is a blurry mess, but this is just absurd. Would it kill them to have a few lights?

She worked as she silently seethed, putting some clothes against the wall with two layers on the sand. She settled there and pulled some more clothes up over her body. She put her back to the wall and pulled her arms into her own uniform. Once she was settled she heard Starrk move around a bit, adjusting the rest of the nesting material no doubt, before she felt his body rest against her. Warmth flowed from him into her and she felt her body begin to relax, despite the fact she was sleeping next to a very powerful hollow.

In his current shape, it’s easy to think he’s just a big dog. I don’t get a sense of danger from him at all. He is so much like Shunsui in body language, despite the shape difference, that I can understand now why it bothered him so to have ‘killed’ this man. I honestly think Shunsui will be relieved to learn Starrk survived the war after all, and embarrassed at the same time.

Still, he is a hollow and he has no reason to truly keep me alive other than the fact that he seems to have befriended Karin during her time here. I have no doubt that he would eat me if push came to shove. Granted, I suppose becoming a part of his soul collection would be preferable to being annihilated from existence. 

That thought brought up a new line of thinking, one which might explain these ‘games’ the quincy were putting on.

Yhwach is not stupid. Even he understands that destroying too many souls would disrupt the balance of the realms, causing them to collapse. It is one thing to re-order them, it is another to destroy them. By feeding us to hollows, then sending them out to be killed by us, he is removing a large number of us from the battlefield while sending all those souls back into the cycle. Those souls are no longer a threat to him or his, he doesn’t need to worry about keeping prisoners, and any new soul being born, should he succeed, will be brought up in a world of his making. It’s a rather smart way to re-train your captives without ever needing to worry about them not breaking or regressing. His troops get entertainment and he gets fresh slates to work with.

Worse, was the other implication Karin had offered. Breeding. As far as she knew it was strictly forbidden to have intercourse with a Hollow, a rather odd law considering the likelihood of it ever happening was absurd. Hollows killed and ate Shinigami. Most of them were so large that the thought of having sex with them was ridicules, not to mention their monstrous appearance. In all of her years with the Gotei 13, she had never heard of a case of anyone having intercourse with a hollow, or even considering it in a joking manner, let alone serious.

And yet, the law had to have come from somewhere, she mused. The older days were far less civilized than today. After all, were there not pits hollows were once kept in to fight for our amusement? Perhaps the thought of breeding with them had occurred to some of the more deranged. Perhaps the offspring were uncontrollable or it wasn’t worth the loss of life. Most of the hollows they would have held back than would have been low level, not the more level minded, higher rank Adjucus that are clearly being held here. Kami-sama knows the old system tried some pretty deranged things, like the original plan for mod souls. If they came up with the idea to use dead humans as fighting vessels, the idea to try and breed shinigami and hollows would not be that farfetched.

“I know it is hard to trust me, but you should rest. You were intended to die in the pit today, and there is no telling if the Quincy well let me keep you or not. They could decide to rectify the situation in the morning.”

“What? Oh, it’s not the company,” she quickly assured him. “I am just thinking. My mind won’t shut down.”

“I see. What were you thinking about?”

“A lot of things. Karin mentioned that ‘breeding’ was something that took place here.”

“Yes,” Starrk sighed. “They wait until the woman being offered is in heat before tying her up and sending her down to be taken. I suspect the restraints are to prevent her from fighting or struggling and harming herself in the process over any fear that she will escape. Once bred, most hollows will protect the woman carrying their young violently. We so seldom go into heat.”

“Shinigami don’t go into heat,” she pointed out.

“Do you not ovulate?” he asked confused.

“Well, yes,” she frowned before getting what he was going for. “Oh, you can scent that?” she asked.

“Yes. I do not know how the quincy know which of your women are in heat and which aren’t, but only the ones in heat are offered for breeding. The chance to breed is very rare on the sands and the quincy have sweetened the deal. Anyone who produces offspring for them will be rewarded by becoming an Arrancar and freed from here to join their army. I suspect they are than foolishly sent to their deaths,” he snorted. “Not all women sent down here to breed are taken though, sometimes the hollows chosen will kill them instead.”

“That almost seems like a better fate.” There was silence between them for a minute or two while she chewed the thought over in her mind before daring to ask. “Have you been offered the chance to bred?” she asked hesitantly.

Starrk let out a sigh before answering. “Many times. Before you ask, I kill them quickly and consume them. Grimmjow does the same. We are not shinigami, but I am certain if giving the choice, they would have preferred death over what was coming.”

She really didn’t want to know, but she had to ask, “what happens to the women after they give birth and their… partner is evolved?”

“As far as we know, they are both moved out and he keeps her. I have never seen the same woman put into the pits twice. I know they survive the birth, for the births are done here in the centre ring with a large amount of ceremony. Once the healthy young arrive, the Adjucus is raised up on a platform pass the wards and is turned into an Arrancar by Yhwach. The family is than removed from the pits, never to be seen again.”

“What if the conception fails?”

Starrk actually let out a mild chuckle, one she almost felt more than heard. “There is the irony. Even between hollows, breeding during heat doesn’t produce offspring more than fifty percent of the time. Mates can go through several heats before succeeding.”

“It’s the same for shinigami.”

“And yet, opposites do seem to attract. Of the forty-six women I have personally seen that were bred, forty-five of them conceived immediately.”

Nanao felt horrified, not just because at least forty-six of her colleges had been raped by hollows, but because the implications of what Starrk had just told her were devastating.

Forty-five Arrancar! There are very few amongst the seated officers that can even dream of taking on the average Arrancar, and we would certainly have noticed that many being put on the field. True we have seen Arrancar amongst the soldiers, but as far as we have been able to determine, they are the remains of Aizen’s army that the quincy recruited.

Nanao swallowed nervously and she felt Starrk shift beside her, no doubt to look at her as her own body twitched at the horrible thought that was reeling through her brain. “You said you believed those changed by Yhwach were sent to the front lines to die. Why do you think that?” she asked through a throat suddenly gone dry.

“What other use would the quincy have for them?”

“Reserves,” she whispered. “Starrk-san, all the Arrancar we have faced so far are ones Aizen made. We haven’t seen a single one on the battle lines that was new. Until now, I didn’t even know Yhwach could make new Arrancar. Kyoraku-sotaichou may be over protective of my physical health, but if we had any inkling to such knowledge, he would have shared it with me.”

She felt the body beside hers stiffen. “While many are not nearly as powerful as us Espada were before Yhwach regressed us, many are at least of Fracción strength. Your seated officers were barely able to compete with them.”

“Yumichika and Ikakku far surpass the average seated officer strength,” she supplied. “I need to get out of here. I need to warn Kyoraku-sotaichou about what’s coming at us.” She shifted restlessly in place, for there was nothing she could do right now. Starrk even echoed that though.

“Rest. You are weary and no doubt have many bruises and lacerations from today’s scuffle. You cannot see in the dark even were the cell bars open.” His shifted back to his original resting pose.

She had to get out of here. They were barely holding the lines as it was and the thought of another forty plus Arrancar suddenly joining the fray was enough to terrify her. While any of the taichou could take down a normal numerous, even they could be out numbered. The thought of four on ones with backing from the sternritter… she didn’t think even Shunsui could survive that. He would take a few out with him, but he would go down in the end. If they lost their taichou class fighters, the war was over. They needed every ounce of strength they could muster, which was why Isshin had even giving up his blissful, mortal life to help. It was why spiritually aware humans were being encouraged to step up and deal with the hollows and pluses the Shinigami couldn’t get to and were being deputized in numbers never seen before.

“Can you help me escape?” she dared to ask.

He let out a long sigh before answering. “There is no escape from this pit, save one. I do not fathom you would be willing to take that avenue considering the unknown outcome.”

One way to escape, and one he doubted she would take. She couldn’t fathom he was talking about death and hoping the hollow she was consumed by died to release her soul. The only time anyone is taken from here is when… she felt horror well in her chest, is when they are bred. A complete death sentence giving the law.


	7. Chapter 7

She didn’t know when she finally fell asleep, only that the lights suddenly clicking on in the morning caused her to jolt awake in alarm. Starrk was curled up around her, offering her a considerable amount of warmth and breathing softly in his own slumber. He seemed undisturbed by her sudden movement or the lights coming back on. She’d been around Shunsui enough times to notice that his body was just a little too limp to actually be asleep, but she appreciated the attempt to keep her at ease while she woke up fully and all her senses came to her. 

Jumping up in shock and snarling and snapping at me would definitely put a damper on our cellmate relationship, she couldn’t help but to think amused. Now, do I let him know I know he is playing hooky, or let him think he is deceiving me? “Good morning Starrk-san. I appreciate the warmth, but I would like to get up and stretch now and you are heavier than you look.”

“Sleep is so much more preferable,” he responded, ending the comment with a wide yawn that showed very sharp teeth, exactly as she expected for a canine. She didn’t get the impression he was trying to intimidate her though. If anything, she almost felt like he was showing off. Here I am. This is my strength and power. Aren’t I impressive? She wondered if he even noticed he’d done so.

“I won’t stop you from sleeping, but I do need to eat and use the third bowl. I doubt you would appreciate me spoiling the nest,” she pointed out.

“True enough,” he sighed, and shifted the bottom half of his body off her so she could crawl past him.

Breakfast was just arriving and she gave a brave smile to Harunobo, she felt pleased with herself for remembering his name this time, who looked at her in concern and seemed to relax a little when he noticed she was alright. She had noticed other prisoners being used as manual labour and while she didn’t know them all, the ones she did recognize belonged to the 4th, which suggested they all did.

Starrk was one again kind enough to turn his head towards the wall and tuck his nose under his tail as she used the waste bowl. It was embarrassing but her week of field training in the academy, where they had to dig and burry their own latrines, had been even more embarrassing.

“What’s the meat today?” she asked wearily as she poked at the white stuff.

Starrk turned his head her way and gave a few solid sniffs. “Pork today, by the smell of it. Nothing added to it.”

“That’s a relief,” she settled into her meal before a horrible thought occurred to her. “Karin,” she called over to the cell beside their own.

“Yeah?” came the muffled reply.

“Have you been eating the meat they provide?” she asked worriedly.

“Fuck no!” Karin exclaimed heatedly. “I don’t want to know what eating hollow meat would do to a human. Granted, after so many days of plain rice, it’s getting damn tempting, even chancing possible side effects. Would it kill them to give us some bean paste or pickled anything?” she grouched.

Great, this was standard fair. Rice, while wonderful, got tedious after a long while and while it would keep them alive, it wouldn’t really keep them healthy in the long run. She had a feeling rescue would be a very long time in coming and escape, at the moment, didn’t seem very plausible. 

To her relief, there were no ‘shows’ today and she spent most of the day talking to Karin, getting caught up on everything the human had learned while here with the occasional tidbit being added by Starrk and Grimmjow. The hollows were permitted to relieve themselves in the pit and, taking Karin’s cue, she followed Starrk out of the cell while he sniffed around to find a spot to do his business. None of the other woman did and it was sorely tempting to inspect the other cells while Starrk ranged about. She put a clamp on that temptation for two reasons. The first was that there was nothing she could do about the other woman anyway and learning their fates would likely just torment her more, and the second, more dangerous, reason was because if the quincy decided to insure she did die, it would be nothing to open one of those cells and the hollow within would have her dead before Starrk could react.

I hate this place, she grouched, eyeing the walls. This isn’t seki stone, I can still feel my reiatsu and it isn’t being drained, but I can’t access it either. I have never heard of anything that does that. A Quincy invention maybe? Manipulating reiatsu is their specialty and preventing others from doing so sounds like something they would be capable of achieving. Still, if it is anything like Kido I might be able to work my brain through it and find a weak spot.

“Karin, how good are you at sensing and melding reiatsu?” she asked after lunch.

Another hollow on his pee break came to inspect their cell, something a good number of them had been doing on their breaks all morning. Starrk and Grimmjow both let out warning growls that had the interloper quickly scurrying to another part of the pit to conduct his business.

“Sensing, pretty good, working with it, not so much. I can channel it into my body, but don’t ask me to perform any Kido. It‘s not exactly like anyone has had time to try and teach me.”

She couldn’t deny that. Even classes at the academy were being neglected. If they couldn’t take the time to train their own students, it was exceedingly unlikely anyone would have the time to train a mere human. Still, some people just had natural talent and it didn’t hurt to see how much of that potential latent ability Karin had.

“Can you link with another person?”

“Never tried. Haven’t really had any reason to. Why?”

“I am trying to come up with ways to swim through this gunk and actually gain us access to our powers, or at least, be able to use our abilities since we still technically have full access.”

“What are you thinking of trying?” Starrk asked. The coyote had his head up and his ears perked forward as he looked at her with interest.

“Well, our reiatsu is still here inside of us, we just can’t seem to be able to ‘catch it’ any more than one can capture air or a person’s breath with their bare hands. We need to find something that can capture air.”

“A balloon,” Karin offered. “You blow air into balloons and the air remains for some time.”

Balloons were not something they had in soul society, but Nanao had seen a few of them in the living world so she knew what they were. There was very little she actually didn’t know about the living world thanks to her trips to deliver letters, but mostly due to Rangiku’s insistent prattling.

“Balloons, good idea Karin. What are balloons made of?”

“Thin, stretchy, rubber, I think. Of course, we don’t really have balloons here and I can’t see how we could manipulate the reiatsu into making one as how we can’t hold onto it in the first place.”

“We are full of reiatsu,” Grimmjow snorted. “We just can’t access it.”

Nanao frowned over the thought, her eyebrows furrowing as she tried to think of a way around the problem. Grimmjow was right, each of them were full of reiatsu, but they couldn’t manipulate it. And yet, hollows needed to eat reiatsu to survive, so how come they didn’t starve while they were currently unable to do anything with it? She asked that question aloud of their cellmates.

“The power is in the meat that we eat,” Starrk answered. “You could say that the reiatsu is given physical, or a solid instead of gaseous, form. Once it is inside of us, it returns to a gaseous, non-manipulative state as it joins our own pools.”

“While it’s still in a solid state inside of you, can you use it?” she asked.

“Maybe. We have never tried before.” Starrk stared off into the distance as he thought about it. 

Nanao could see his mind work as he tackled the mental puzzle. It was a look she’d seen in Shunsui’s eyes on occasion. Shunsui must be beside himself with worry and guilt. It’s like Lisa-san all over again, right down to the not knowing I am alive and fairly well considering the circumstances. I hope Genshiro-san won’t let him drown his sorrow away in sake like he tried to do after Lisa-san went missing, but I am not very optimistic about it. How many fukutaichou did he go through before I had to beat him over the head with my kido book to get him half straightened out again? Six? Seven?

“It could be worth a try,” Grimmjow grunted from his cell, bringing her attention back to the conversation. “Next time we eat we can try to manipulate the power into a really small bala, something they might not even notice.”

“There is danger in trying,” Starrk remarked. “If they know we found a way around their system, they will quickly rectify the situation. I doubt changing the wards would be their solution.” Starrk didn’t say it but the answer was obvious; death.

Without Starrk and Grimmjow to protect them, Nanao severely doubted the survivability of either herself or Karin. Best case scenario would be they would be executed, preferably by hollow consumption so their souls would not be obliterated. Worse case scenario… they would be selected for breeding and would spend the rest of their lives being raped by hollows and bearing their young.

“It’s probably not worth it,” Karin added. “I doubt the energy you could gather and use would be very much and not at all likely to be helpful in anyway. It would take a large amount of energy to break through these walls. While there do seem to be switches on the walls to open the door on the arena side of these cells, I doubt the main entrance has one. That would be pure stupidity.”

“She has a point,” Grimmjow agreed.

They spent the day racking their brains, tossing ideas back and forth. For every plan one of them came up with, at least two others could find flaws with it that made it either impossible or too dangerous to attempt. It was after dinner when Karin came up with an idea that just might work.

“I think we are looking at this the wrong way. Let’s go back to the balloon analogy. The thing about the air, or reiatsu in this case, in a balloon is that the balloon itself has no control over it. It is simply the vessel. Each one of us is a balloon and we can’t manipulate the reiatsu inside of us, nor can we manipulate the air around us. But, what’s to stop one of us from being the person to manipulate the balloon itself.”

The thought horrified Nanao and she strongly suspected that Karin had no idea what it was she had just suggested. Starrk had also stiffened beside her, but there was a look of contemplation in his eyes and he seemed rather alert; a look she recognized from the few times Shunsui was tackling a rather complex and interesting puzzle to which he might have found the solution to.

“You are suggesting, that one of us be the balloon while the other person be the hands that manipulate it,” Starrk clarified.

“Exactly!” Karin exclaimed.

It was quickly followed by “Are you fucking insane!?” from Grimmjow and a “It’s wrong on a lot of levels!” from herself.

“Why?” Karin asked confused.

“Karin, you are basically suggesting something akin to enslavement or spiritual rape. To give complete control of oneself to another is not something that is done lightly, nor easily. Something like this would take a considerable amount of trust.”

“Don’t you work together to perform group Kido though?” Karin questioned confused.

“We do, but each one of us is weaving our power into a web of strands that form a new whole. We are still only manipulating our own power from our own bodies. To take another person’s power from their body and use it for yourself, especially without permission, is punishably by death.”

“It is not a bad idea,” Starrk hummed.

“What!” she and Grimmjow yelped in shock.

“They would never expect it. No doubt the concept is as foreign to them as it is to us,” Starrk pointed out.

“I appreciate the shelter you have offered me Starrk-san, but I am not certain I trust you that much. I don’t even think I trust Kyoraku-sotaichou that much!” She wasn’t even exaggerating. The mere idea of giving up complete control over her reiatsu, her very being, was terrifying. Someone could drain you to death without even realizing it in the heat of battle. She cared for Shunsui, she really did, but if the situation called for it, he would do so, even to Jushiro, without a second thought. Oh, he would be guilty later, but he would do what had to be done.

“I could not safely access your power anyhow, Ise-san. Hollows have a voracious hunger, especially with how little we are being fed. I would merely consume whatever I took from you and add it to my own strength. If this is to work, it would be you and Karin who would need to draw from our power.”

She felt shock ripple through her even as her mind raced with the idea of not only harnessing the power of a hollow, something she wasn’t positive she could do in the first place, but Starrk had a ridicules amount of it. Not as much as he’d once had as an Arrancar perhaps, but he was still the equivalent of any taichou. She did absently notice that Grimmjow hadn’t protested this time.

“You want me to draw upon your power?” she stammered; just be sure she had heard Starrk right. “You would trust me that much?”

“I trust you far more than I trust them,” he used his nose to indicate the upper portion of the arena where the spectators sat to watch the events. “How good are you at manipulating Kido?”

“I have been asked, multiple times, to join the Kido Corpse,” she admitted with a hint of embarrassment.

“She’s an expert, easily on par with any of the taichou,” Karin spoke up. “And don’t sell yourself short,” Karin interjected before she could deny it. “Did you, or did you not, make a shield strong enough to hold one of their precious sternritter at bay? Or was that a story you made up?” Karin challenged.

“Which one?” Starrk asked, eyeing her intently.

“Kyoraku-sotaichou was with me,” she protested weakly.

“Not important,” Karin denied. “This was something you did all on your own.”

Nanao sighed before giving them a name. Starrk raised an eye and Grimmjow made an impressed grunt. Karin let out what sounded like a string of curses, but it was muffled by the walls too much to pick out individual words.

“I think,” Starrk gave her a puppy grin that was rather cute, “that this just might work. Here, come sit beside me and rest a hand on my head. My power is great, not as great as it was before Yhwach changed me, but still equivalent to your Taichou. If you can handle his power, you should be able to handle mine.”

“If it’s so strong, shouldn’t you have become a vasto lorde by now?” she questioned.

“Perhaps,” he agreed. “Or perhaps the thing that prevents us from manipulating reiatsu also prevents us from evolving.” That made about at much sense as everything else in this messed up situation did. 

Hesitantly, Nanao moved to sit beside him. Starrk plopped his head down onto her lap without even a ‘by-your-leave,’ causing her to stiffen in shock before hesitantly resting a hand on his head. The white hide beneath her own was warm and smooth. It was stiff, but with a bit of fleshy give. It almost reminded her of cured leather.

“Now close your eyes, reach your senses out until you can feel my pool of power. It is right here beneath your hand. It will be deep and sleepy, like a slumbering dragon. Move your hand to the left and scratch right behind me ear.”

“Why?” she questioned confused as she did as ordered.

“Because I can never reach that spot and it’s itchy,” he sighed contently as her blunt nails worked the spot.

She stopped, staring at him in disbelief, before letting out a small chuckle and continuing to scratch the spot while he made content doggy growls that completely belied the fact he was an extremely dangerous hollow. It oddly helped her relax a fair amount. She closed her eyes and focused on the body beside her own; his head resting in her lap, the heat he radiated, the calm she never expected from a hollow, not even the oft time energetic Nel. She could feel his power, deep and vast like the depths of a pool where one could never hope to find the bottom. He had described it as a sleeping dragon, but that wasn’t the impression she got at all. It reminded her more of a large, calm pond with unfathomable depth. One that was full of poisonous water for anyone foolish enough to approach it without the strength to swim in such waters; who would slip into slumber and die without even realizing they were doing so. Fortunately for her, she was strong enough to resist the lure to sink beneath those waves and let herself go.

She didn’t notice when the lights clicked out, for her eyes were closed as she concentrated. It was a lot like slipping into a meditative trance. Slowly, she approached the pool and cupped her metaphorical hands to try and get some of the ‘water’ that was Starrk’s reiatsu. The foreign energy burned her fingers as it slipped between them like mist. She let out a gasp of pain, clutched her hands to her chest and snapped her eyes open to stare at the darkness. She felt panic rear up in her before Starrk’s calm voice informed her the lights had been switched out and that she hadn’t burned her eyes in her attempt.

“I felt your fingers stirring my power. What happened?” he asked once she got her panic back under control.

“I burned my fingers. They still feel raw,” she answered, trying to peer at her hand in the dark without any luck. What I wouldn’t give for a kido light right now, she bemoaned.

“I see,” Starrk sighed. “Perhaps we should rest for the night. It is late and we have mentally exhausted ourselves throughout the day. I am going to stand and lean against your side so you can follow me to the nest.”

“Alright.”

Starrk’s body came against her own. Her hands still stung, but in the dark it was impossible to tell if it was a mental pain or if there was any physical damage to her appendages. She still wrapped them up to be on the safe side once they arrived at the nest before curling up under a few pieces of clothing. Starrk’s body laid down next to hers once she was settled and she felt his heat begin to warm her. It was oddly comforting.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I seem to have done an odd cut off between here and Fanfic. Either way, both versions are now equal.

Karin woke with a stretch and a yawn before shivering and pulling her arms back into the relative warmth of her cocoon. In hind sight, cutting the legs off her pants had been a foolish idea, but asking Grimmjow to give up his bedding might have been even more foolish, especially considering the fact that it would have been forever damaged if she’d had to use the cloth for pads in the end. As it was, the rags worked well for giving them both sponge baths every once in a while, but such baths only went so far.

Let’s face it, my clothes are really starting to stink, she thought sourly. They were also damaged from her scuffles and the small rips and holes were starting to spread. It might not hurt to change into her ‘bedding’ for a few days and let her clothes air out a bit, maybe even use some water to give them a light soaking to try and wash out the dried sweat that clung to them.

Karin rose to her feet and gave another stretch, going up onto her tiptoes and raising her arms as high up as they could reach, which was a good few feet from the ceiling. It warmed up rather quickly once the lights were turned on, although she never could find a specific source of heat. Grimmjow let out a yawn and stretch as well, the perfect image of a cat leisurely doing so because he wanted to, before going still and staring at her intently.

“What?” she demanded as he continued to stare at her and give odd sniffs of the air.

“Nothing,” he grunted, before moving over to sit near the bars leading into the pit. 

Karin just shrugged her shoulders and accepted the three bowls from Hana. Rice, meat and water, the same as every day. She ate the rice, left the meat in the bowl, took care of business, then joined Grimmjow by the bars. A single lick brought the meat scraps to his mouth. Today would be a rest day again and she watched as the first hollow was released into the pit to take care of his business. It was the jackal that had nearly taken her throat out. He ranged about very much like a dog would, coming closer to their cell. The closer he got, the more he lifted his nose up to scent the air. It took her a moment to realize that Grimmjow was letting out a low, feline growl of warning as the adjucus moved closer.

Jackal let out a growl of his own and urinated as close to their cell as he dared to get before moving off to return to his own cell. At first she thought he was just being a dick and marking his territory over the events from the other day, but one by one, most of the others continued the trend, some daring to come closer, many shying away at the warning growl coming from her companion. Finally, it was his turn.

“Stay close to Starrk’s cell,” he ordered as he stepped out into the sands.

“Don’t I always,” she rolled her eyes at him.

He didn’t respond. She stepped out and moved to lean against the section of wall separating their cell from Starrk and Nanao’s. She raised an eye at the image the two presented. Starrk had his head in Nanao’s lap, but his eyes and ears were up and alert. Nanao had a hand resting on his neck, absently stroking him with her eyes closed and a look of concentration on her face. He glanced her way and let out a sigh of annoyance. 

“Not working so well?” she asked.

“It is coming along rather well actually,” he answered.

Grimmjow seemed to be taking his time, going about the pit and spraying all over the place before finding a spot to actually pee. She’d never seen him do that before. Maybe he’s getting annoyed at all the attention we have been getting, she mused as she watched him spray a few more times before returning to their cell.

“Nanao, it is time for a break,” Starrk yawned.

Nanao give a little start as she came out of her trance and the two women shared a forced smile before Karin followed Grimmjow into their cell. Like Grimmjow, Starrk also ranged all over the place, marking half the pit before finding a spot to finish his business. It cemented the idea in her mind that the two were firmly reminding the others who the top predators here were, and to back off their prowling.

“Starrk says it’s going well,” she commented as they watched the coyote mark another spot in the sand.

“Painful, but well,” Nanao winced. “Every time I try to touch his pool of power, it feels like my hands, both spiritually and reality, are burned.” Nanao flexed her fingers and stared at her unmarred hands. “I fear his power may be too great for me to safely handle.”

“Could be,” Karin agreed. “Any chance of conjuring spiritual gloves?” she asked without much hope.

“If I could use my own reiatsu, that would be one possibility,” she said. “As it stands, our best hope may lie with you and Grimmjow. You are much closer in strength than Starrk and I are, assuming he is willing to let you try. I honestly wouldn’t blame him if he says no.”

Both of them glanced at him out of the corner of their eyes, but Grimmjow ignored them, if he even heard them. All of his attention was on Starrk, watching the coyote go about marking territory like he had.

I bet if Nanao or I could scent it, we would discover that no spot was marked twice. At least Grimmjow doesn’t seem upset with Starrk for following in his paws and marking everything, but he is still watching him like a hawk. Dear Kami, I hope the rest don’t decide to. Human nose or not, the place will quickly reek if they all mark it up. There is a reason every ally smells, and it’s not all because of garbage or drunk humans. Male cats are the worse, I swear.

Starrk finished his ranging and returned to his cell.

“Well, looks like it’s back to meditation and spiritual burns for me,” Nanao sighed.

“I have no doubt you can do it,” Karin smiled at her encouragingly.

Nanao followed Starrk back into their own cell and the next hollow was released. Karin noticed that the ones released afterwards, while still exhibiting that strange behaviour from earlier, did so at a much further distance from their cell. Grimmjow spent the entire day watching them sharply, lips pulled back slightly from his fangs.

Karin decided it would be best to let him be and not irritate the already irritated feline. She would broach the idea of practicing with him when he looked less likely to murder the next person to even suggest glancing in his direction. Somehow, she almost suspected that the other hollows were keeping their distance less because of the markings, and more because of the look in his eyes and the flash of his fangs.

What crawled up his ass anyhow? He’s been acting all grumpy since he woke up this morning. I think the only reason he’s not pacing right now is because he has his claws buried so deep into the sand, he’s probably turning it into glass.

She settled into her own spot and closed her eyes to meditate. She spent the time focusing on the reiatsu all about them, the particles in the very air itself. Shinigami and hollows couldn’t actually draw on it any more than a fish could breathe in the rain, or so she’d been told. Hollows could apparently absorb it, but not actively draw on it. It was kind of like they were a sponge on a puddle of water, or at least that was how Sado had tried to explain it when he talked about what it was like to be in Hueco Mundo. Quincy, on the other hand, were a damn super powered vacuum cleaner, able to suck in reiatsu from good distances and even manipulate it outside of their own bodies to change the very environment. They could even strip power from inanimate objects, removing them from existence. Karin feared that the most powerful of the quincy could probably do this to lesser powered souls. It was a terrifying thought.

Well, Mama was a quincy, and there is a hell of a lot more reiatsu here than there is at home. Just because you haven’t tried something doesn’t mean it’s not possible. I’ve never really had a chance to just sit about and do nothing, so maybe I can manipulate what is down here. Although, if that was possible, you would think their own dead would still be able to fight.

She’d only seen one quincy tossed into the pit so far, and Starrk had killed him so fast the man hadn’t had a chance to even think about defending himself.

“Starrk?” she called softly so as not to bring Grimmjow’s temper her way.

“Yes Karin?”

“The Quincy they toss down here to be consumed. Have any of them ever fought back with their abilities?”

Starrk was silent, no doubt pondering the question and checking his memories. If the others treated Quincy prisoners like Starrk had, there might never have been a chance for any of them to try and fight back before being murdered. Starrk had said hollows were poisonous to the Quincy. One bite and it was pretty much game over for them.

“I think,” Starrk said slowly, “that I recall one woman who was able to begin summoning her weapon before she was killed. I thought it might have been a trick of the light, for she died quickly, and it still might be just that.”

But it was still a chance.

“Why do you ask?”

“Mother was a Quincy,” Grimmjow grunted, turning his gaze her way. He still looked pissy, but she didn’t think it was entirely directed her way.

“Really?” Starrk asked curiously. “And you are thinking you might be able to manipulate the very air, perhaps even undo the reishi that holds these walls and bars in existence?”

“I’ve never tried,” she shrugged. “Could be I don’t have an ounce of Quincy ability in me, and even if I did, I have never tried to access it or train it. Still, it’s not like I have anything else to do sitting in these cages.”

“I would suggest working on the sand. Holes in the wall and bars they would notice, but missing sand is likely to be overlooked,” Starrk suggested.

“Not a bad idea.” She closed her eyes and set back to doing just that, pausing only for dinner, and then stopping to go to bed. She didn’t make any progress, but she was trying to exercise muscles that she didn’t know existed, or even what they would feel like if they were there. It was rather like a deaf man trying to give verbal directions to a blind man.

The next three days were going to be very irritating. He had spent most of the day laying down and making sure the majority of his bulk was between Karin and the very real problem between his legs.

Damn instincts, he huffed to himself in annoyance. And damn humans for going into heat every bloody month. Maybe I should have just killed her and been done with it. If I have to put up with this every month, I just may end up mating her to get it to stop!

Getting to go out and spray everywhere helped a little to curb his instincts. She was only in the starting day of heat, so they were not going completely insane just yet. Tomorrow… oh yes, tomorrow was going to be a nightmare. It was a good thing humans had such short heat cycles. Hollows lasted for a week, and even then, giving the size of Hueco Mundo, you would be lucky to reach the female before her heat ended, especially if she was avoiding you.

Karin, at least, seemed to realize something had him annoyed and she gave him some distance, for which he was thankful for. Ichigo would have been pestering him insistently to confess what was bothering him until he either broke or sank his claws and fangs into his former patrolling partner. Or, at least tried to do so as Ichigo was far stronger than he was trapped in this accursed adjucus shape once more.

He snarled at another adjucus who came sniffing their way. Her scent would be traveling quickly and soon the entire arena would know there was a female in heat amongst them. Those that couldn’t scent her yet would be marking the behaviour of those that could. That had been a definite bonus to being an arrancar; their instincts, while still there, had been curbed a little. While he was in no danger of losing himself in a mating frenzy, the scent was still very enticing. Because he was laying down, he could see some of the balcony above them where the quincy sat to watch their ‘games.’

He bared his fangs a bit more and glared hatefully at Hashwald. The second in command was starting down into the pit with a look of contemplation on his face Grimmjow didn’t like, and liked it even less when those cold eyes finally roved to settle on him. His lips peeled back a bit further and if he’d had fur, his hackles would have been fully up. Hashwald hardly seemed threatened and didn’t move a single hair as the Quincy regarded him. Finally, the man turned sharply and walked away.

Yeah, you better run jackass, he thought violently.

Finally, the last one was permitted to go pee and returned to his cell. It helped his instincts a little more and he turned his attention towards Karin, who was meditating. Ichigo could wield Quincy powers, so there was a chance that Karin might be able to. If she could use the Quincy ability to absorb the very stone around them, for everything in the realms of the dead were made of reishi, she could remove all the locks, even sections of wall, and they might be able to escape. If they did it in the dark, they might even be able to get a good distance before anyone noticed.

I am almost done here anyhow. The meals they are feeding me are barely enough to keep me from regressing at this point, let alone push me forward. Time to blow this place. He moved over to his nest and settled down with his back to Karin and his nose curled against him. It helped to mitigate her scent a little and hide his growing need.

Morning came all too quickly, and two bowls of water were delivered with her breakfast. Hollows didn’t require as much water as humans and shinigami did, a good thing considering the fact they lived in a dessert where rain was so rare, let alone pools of water. A bowl of water once a month was more than enough for them, so long as they received a good amount of fresh meat, or more importantly, blood and organs. Karin had been sharing her water with him, so he was hardly parched.

“Wow, we might actually be able to get cleaned up a little,” Karin mused as she regarded both bowls. “I plan on having a good wipe down, maybe even try and wash my hair a little. Want me to rub you down too?” she asked.

“Yes,” he responded before realizing that would be a really stupid idea. He wasn’t about to take the request back though, that would have been suspicious. Her scent was strong today and he could hear the other unmated hollows, and even a few of the mated ones, shuffling energetically in their cells. 

He moved from his nest and laid down quickly before she could see that, not only was he aroused, but he was damn near dripping. It was all he could do not to grind against the sand. A wet rag started to rub him down and he closed his eyes despite himself. Little content growls escaped his throat as her fingers worked his hide. His ego swelled as the unmated female courted him! He was large enough her body frequently had to rub against his own, including her rather well shaped breasts. He found himself leaning into her rubbings, hardly even noticing the cloth was damp.

“You seem to be enjoying this,” she chuckled.

He stilled and his eyes snapped open to realize he was on his back as she rubbed down his stomach. Her eyes regarded his length with amusement, and thankfully no horror that he was turned on. Her eyes did narrow as she regarded the part of his shaft that had slipped out of its sheath.

“Yep, those look like barbs. I knew it. Do you want to clean yourself, or should I do it?” she asked easily.

“Uh, what?” he asked intelligently.

She rolled her eyes at him and held up the rag.

“Me have hands, you don’t,” she said in an odd voice with some sort of accent he couldn’t name. “You were in a human form once, and I can’t imagine the thought of licking your own balls is a pleasant one. You are covered in sand.”

“Go for it,” he smirked, positive she would try to backpedal the offer, or at least blush. His entire body shivered as the damp cloth ran over the heated flesh with a few firm strokes. She hardly seemed uncomfortable and went back to cleaning the rest of him without any change in the pressure she exerted on his body.

Shit, that was good, he couldn’t help but to moan. When was the last time he’d had the pleasurable company of a female? Sometime before the Winter War. There had been more than enough willing partners to explore their new bodies and the things they could do with them. With fighting mostly forbidden, the only other thing to do had been to sleep, eat and mate. You could only do so much of the first two. Starrk and Yammy more than made up for the rest of us in those two departments.

He turned his attention back to Karin, who had stripped down to her underwear and bra and was giving herself a good rubbing down. His eyes drifted to her breasts, finally able to get a good idea of their size now that her shirt wasn’t in the way. They were considerably smaller than pretty much every other pair he’d ever seen, hollow females were well endowed, no doubt to make sure there would be plenty of milk for their multiple offspring now that they had been reduced to two milk factories, but he’d found large breast not very sexy. Too much flesh to fit in his hands. Karin’s looked like they would have fit in his palms perfectly and he cursed his nonhuman body.

With both of them sponged down, she used the rest of the water in the large bowl, the one originally intended to be his no doubt, to try and wash out her hair. It was a tangled mess and she cursed as her fingers kept getting stuck in it.

“We should cut your hair, make it short like your brother‘s,” he commented.

Karin let out a sigh and glared at the tangled, damp strands that dangled before her face. “You are probably right,” she agreed. “How good are you with those claws of yours?”

“Good enough, if you trust me.” She was going to have to let his claws and fangs get very close to her neck and skull, something real mates were even a little leery of doing.

“Might as well go ahead. It’s not like there is a mirror here to lament if it ends up uneven or something. Honestly, I am tired of this rat’s nest. I swear I can feel it like a weight on the back of my skull trying to pull my head down, and god knows what kind of things are starting to live in there.”

“By the main gate, so we can shove the hair out.”

Karin moved over to him, bringing the uniform he offered her on her first night with her. She still didn’t share his nest, which while odd, he was thankful for right now with her heat and his problem. She laid it out before him, then settled down and rested her head on his paws trustingly. Her eyes closed and he swore she dozed as he used his claws and fangs to crop her hair until it was barely longer than her brother’s. It wasn’t perfectly even, but he didn’t think he did a bad job either giving the tools he had to work with.

When he was done, she lingered before finally getting up with a barely audible sigh. She rinsed her hair out with some of what was left of the water before using the rest to clean her pants and shirt, hanging them up to dry, and pulling on her ‘blanket’ while she waited. She let out a yawn and stretch, but hardly seemed awake.

“Here,” he offered, rising to pull another piece of clothing from his nest. “You look like you can use a nap.”

“Tell me about it,” she smiled, smothering another yawn. She was barely curled up on the new piece of clothing before her breathing evened out. He was feeling rather languid himself and stretched out on his nest.

His breathing was suddenly slightly constricted, and he snapped awake in shock and fear. He didn’t even recall falling asleep and, even now that he was awake, he still felt like his mind was trying to fight its way through sludge. He tried to dig his claws in, but he was dragged from his cell with far too much ease for his liking. Karin wasn’t moving and he realized that they had both been drugged for there was no way she would have been able to sleep through the noise.

“Damn it, I thought you said he shouldn’t wake up,” the man on his left snapped irritable as they slowly dragged him from his cell towards the centre of the arena.

“I drugged their damn water. He should have been down for at least six hours,” the one on his right snapped.

They obviously didn’t know that Karin shared her water with him, or that they had used his own monthly allowance to clean themselves instead of him drinking it like he normally did.

He tried to lunge at lefty, and while he did manage to pull the ropes that way a little, they had him firm between them. Waiting for him in the middle of the pit was Hashwald, who watched everything with that usual calm expression of his. It made him want to claw the bastard’s face off. Two more men ran up to help, grabbing a rope each as they dragged him to stand just before Yhwach’s second in command. He was wearing himself out quickly, but he sure as hell was not going down without a fight. The ropes were hooked into two sockets on the ground and pulled tight, dragging his head down to the ground. He clawed frantically at the lines, but whatever they were made of seemed to be stronger than his claws. No amount of twisting would get the damn things from around his neck either.

He snarled and stared up hatefully at Hashwald, who was slowly raising a sword made of pure energy.

“You have evolved as far as we can afford to feed you. Now, it is time to make sure you won’t regress, and save ourselves on the meat. Did you think us so foolish Grimmjow?”

So the idiots had noticed he had been using them to eat and grow in power in peace. He felt terror grip him as he realized just what the man intended. His eyes stared fearfully at the energy blade as it reached the top of its arc, and slowly started to come down towards his face.


	9. Chapter 9

The sound of a frantic feline worked its way into her dreams. With a good amount of effort, Karin forced her eyes to open. They felt like they had been glued together. Everything was a bit blurry at first, but slowly the coloured images resolved themselves into two people and a furious, white jaguar desperately fighting his restraints. Two guards had Grimmjow caught between them, cables going from their gloved hands to end wrapped around his neck. With one on each side of him, he couldn’t get to either one. She’s seen it done many times in movies with wild horses and dogs. In the middle of the arena was Hashwald. This did not bode well.

She struggled to her feet, needing to lean on the wall as she fought the last of whatever they’d given or done to her. _Stupidity!_ she cursed herself. _Just what we get for being lax, unless whatever they slipped us was something he couldn’t detect anyhow._

Adrenaline was burning through the drug and she reached down to grab her bone weapon before stumbling towards the exit. All their attention was on Grimmjow, even the two that came to help restrain the furious feline. She made it to the front of the cell and paused only long enough to slap the ‘open cell’ button on Starrk’s cell before running as fast as she could towards the confrontation. She didn’t stop to see if the button worked or not. Her run started as a stagger, but she was fully functional by the time she was halfway there.

She flung her weapon, the knobbly end smacking into Hashwald just as he started to bring the light sword down towards Grimmjow. It surprised him just enough to give her the last few seconds she needed to tackle him to the ground. Fortunately, the blade of energy dispersed the moment their bodies collided, more so because he probably didn’t want to risk cutting himself as they tumbled over as opposed to having lost control over it.

Furious snarling and ripping sounds came from behind her, as well as the terrified and agonized screams of the four men. She quickly untangled herself from Hashwald, although not before managing to get her knee in his gut and her elbow on the back of his head. A quick scramble to her weapon and she put herself between the two now frantically feasting hollows with Nanao at her side. Her partner had a long fang in one hand and a claw clutched in her other fist like a pair of oddly shaped daggers. Like the feeding frenzy, Grimmjow and Starrk were gulping down the human remains extremely fast. She’d counted three bodies, with the fourth man just reaching the edge of the pit and scrambling terrified at the gate, which no fool would be dumb enough to open as it would give the two loose hollows a chance to escape, before putting all her attention on the very real threat before them. The sound of bone snapping and cloth tearing sent a shiver up her spine, and she caught Nanao give one too out of the corner of her eye. It wasn’t a sound she was going to forget anytime soon.

Hashwald rose to his feet and calmly brushed the sand off his uniform, not the least bit afraid of the two hollows, nor seemingly injured from her two scores. The other hollows in their cells were letting out a mixture of laughter at the plight of the Quincy and shiver worth howls of blood lust as they paced excitedly at the bars of their cages.

“What is going on down there?” a new voice demanded, one that caused instant silence to fall over the arena.

Karin glared hatefully up at Yhwach as the Quincy King stood on his balcony looking down at them.

“Just some pruning, my liege,” Hashwald answered, turning his glare back to the two hollows that had almost finished eating. Grimmjow let out a snarl and stood from the mess of blood and cloth to stalk up to her side. She did notice that was where he stopped, and his body trembled beside her own. She wondered how much of it was rage, how much was fear, and how much was him just fighting to stand as the drug worked its way out of his system.

She knew a bit about hollows and, now that the initial panic was over, she understood what Hashwald had been doing. A hollow stopped gaining power if their mask was broken, and Grimmjow was both gaining power fast and hardly loyal to the Quincy. It would be foolish of them to let him continue to gain in strength, so they had decided to curb his growth and focus on breaking him for loyalty. Foolish of them because she knew Grimmjow didn’t just give his loyalty to anyone, not even someone as powerful as Aizen had been.

_That would be a fight worth seeing, Aizen verse Yhwach. May they murder each other at the same time._

“I see,” Yhwach let his eyes shift from his subordinate to her. She returned his look with a glare of hatred and rested one hand on Grimmjow’s shoulder. She almost expected him to snap at her, for it was foolish to touch a pissed off feline, but instead she felt the flesh beneath her hand begin to settle. “Return to your cells,” Yhwach ordered. “Not you two. You two stay there,” he gestured to the two women as they all made to return to their cells.

“Like hell,” Grimmjow snarled, not moving from her side while Starrk let out an annoyed sigh and moved to stand beside Nanao. All four of them looked up at the Quincy King defiantly. Well, three of them. Starrk looked more annoyed and resigned than defiant, like a child dragged to their mother’s tea party.

“That was not a suggestion from his majesty,” Hashwald stated firmly, reforming the blade of energy before him.

Karin looked back up at Yhwach, then at the other guards that were starting to draw weapons, mostly bows and crossbows made of energy, from the safety of the balcony. They were trapped in a pit. Even if they returned to their cells, they would be trapped in there too. There really was nowhere to escape to. They could easily be starved into submission, or all the other cells could be opened at once. That would not be a pleasant fight, and one they might not survive.

“Go,” she gave Grimmjow’s shoulder a shove. “If they wanted to kill us, the archers could already have done so from the balcony.”

“Karin is right,” Nanao agreed with a sigh.

Karin removed the cables from around his neck, tossing them aside, and handed her weapon off to Grimmjow, who reluctantly took it in his mouth and returned to his cell. Nanao did the same with Starrk. Both women stayed side by side as the bars to their partners’ cells were closed and the main gate finally opened. To her surprise, no one came to grab them, although the surviving escort fell through the now open door, sobbing in relief.

“Your guards really suck,” Karin snorted to Hashwald, who came up to stand beside them.

He ignored her barb. “This way please. I believe his Majesty would like to have a word with you two.”

“More like you are going to bring us up top and toss us back into the pit tomorrow to be eaten,” Karin scoffed.

They follow Hashwald towards the open gates without resistance.

“Perhaps, but I doubt being eaten will be on the mind of any hollow chosen. I must give Grimmjow commendation for his restraint. It must have been difficult for him to hold back while being confined with a female in heat.”

Karin froze, then gave her head a shake and continued to follow the other two towards the exit. “Well, that explains the strange behaviour yesterday,” she mused.

“Your hair looks rather good short like that Karin,” Nanao commented.

“You think so? I think Grimmjow did an excellent job considering the tools, or lack thereof, we had to work with. You should ask Starrk to do the same. Trying to keep long hair clean and tended to in this sandy pit is pretty much impossible. Shorter hair, less tangles.”

The two of them continued to go on about grooming difficulties in an effort to remain nonchalant as they were led to the gate, where four guards await them. Their wrists were restrained behind their back before they were permitted out into the corridor, and why was made obvious quickly. Karin almost let out a sigh of relief as control of her reiatsu suddenly returned and she swore Nanao had a tear in her eye. Restrained, there was not much in the way of Kido either one of them could perform and shunpo was dangerous to do while off balanced and in narrow halls.

They were led down the corridor and through two turns before coming out into an open room where Yhwach waited for them. The four guards stopped outside the door, leaving the two women alone with the top two officers of the Quincy army.

“I must say, Karin, you are so like my son, I almost feel as though I could take you as my daughter,” Yhwach chuckled.

“Didn’t know you had a son,” she snorted. “You going to take these restraints off? They are stupidly uncomfortable and if you are even half as powerful as people make you out to be, I doubt you have anything to fear from some human woman and a fukutaichou.”

“True enough,” he chuckled amused.

Hashwald removed the restraints and Karin took the time to rub her wrist and look about the large room they were in. She recognized a mini hospital when she saw one. _Well, I suppose the other women would need prenatal checkups. Looks like the men are permitted to watch,_ she noted as she spotted a large cage in one corner.

“What do you want with us?” Nanao asked, her voice firm and her posture almost at ease.

“Very little from you, although, I think what we have here is a potential for amusement, if nothing else. I have little use for useless things, and Starrk and Grimmjow are both becoming useless to me; more expensive to feed than to maintain. I see no reason to let them continue in their growth. You do not waste resources feeding a non-asset.”

That was a not-so-subtle subtle threat their way as well and she shared a look with Nanao.

“Humans ovulate so frequently that I figured just giving you time to do so would work, but I never figured Grimmjow, of all hollows, would have the restraint necessary not to mount you as soon as you started. As for you,” he turned his attention towards Nanao, “I had hoped Starrk, who must be in a constant state of hunger seeing as how we can barely keep up with feeding a creature of his power, would have happily eaten the woman attached to the man who had almost killed him.”

“He’s the most ‘human’ hollow I have ever met, save for Nel-san,” Nanao commented.

“What have you done with the other women who gave birth?” Karin asked, for she knew exactly where this conversation was going.

“They languish in their room, raising their young and being doted upon by their masters,” Yhwach answered with an amused smile. “I found it rather surprising how blood thirsty and viscous hollows could become so tender towards their offspring and pet breeders,” he chuckled. “Do you honestly think me so foolish as to send troops into the front lines so soon after their conversion? They need time to become accustom to their new bodies and powers after all.”

“And to make sure they are completely loyal to you as well no doubt,” Nanao crossed her arms and glared at the two Quincy.

“I hate cryptic takings and politicking, so let’s be perfectly frank with each other.” Yhwach offered Karin an amused smile at her snark. “If Nanao and I do nothing, you will kill all four of us, or at least, break Grimmjow’s mask, and Starrk’s, to halt their evolution and make them cheaper to fed. You don’t believe they ever plan to rape some woman to give you brats for your army. Correct?”

Yhwach gave a firm nod of his head, amused smile still on his lips under that atrocity he called a moustache.

“Not until they have reached a panicle of power that is too dangerous to be trusted with anyhow,” Hashwald added, speaking for the first time since they arrived into this medical room.

“Starrk is already very powerful, far more than Grimmjow,” Nanao pointed out.

“Yeah, but Starrk is not as aggressive,” Karin pointed out before turning her attention back to their ‘host.’ “I am not going to try and pretend that’s not what Grimmjow is doing. I am not him so obviously I can’t say yah or nah. Here is what I want to know, and you better be telling the damned truth, or I will happily let Grimmjow eat me. Well, maybe vindictively anyhow. I can’t picture anyone would actually be happy about being eaten.”

Yhwach let out an amused chuckle.

“IF we let Grimmjow and Starrk mate us, will you leave their masks alone and evolve them when we give birth?” she asked firmly, letting her eyes bore into Yhwach. “Or even before, I don’t think they will be picky.”

“We will evolve them after,” Yhwach answered with nothing but pure truth, and Karin was rather good at detecting bullshit.

“Can we talk alone for a moment,” Nanao requested.

He gave them a vague gesture, which Nanao took as consent and pulled Karin away to the other side of the room. “What are you thinking?” she inquired in a soft, frantic voice, “other than the obvious.”

“We are definitely not going to escape from this pit of a pit, at least not anytime soon. We can delay things, but sooner or later they can starve us out or just shoot us through the bars. I cannot just let them break Grimmjow’s mask, not when he saved my life at least twice since I have been here. Ichi-nii would certainly never forgive me, nor would I forgive myself.”

“I don’t think your brother would forgive Grimmjow for de-flowing his little sister either.”

“My sexual life is none of my brother’s business any more than his is mine,” she snorted. “Do you let Shunsui dictate yours?” she pointed out.

A blush touched Nanao’s checks and she looked aside.

“Have you ever had a partner?” Karin asked suspiciously. Sure it was uncomfortable thinking about breeding with what was physically animals, even though they technically weren’t, but Nanao seemed a bit more off put by it, Karin would even label it as fear if she didn’t know how strong of a woman Nanao was.

“That’s beside the point. It’s against the law for a Shinigami to have intercourse with a hollow. The punishment is death.”

_Well that makes a bit more sense as to where the fear is coming from. Good old, ‘damned if you do, damned if you don’t.’_ “Right now, your laws are the least of our concerns,” she pointed out. “Besides, doesn’t the law also say that shinigami with hollow powers are to be executed? Last time I checked you got three vizard acting as taichou, not to count the rest helping out in your war.”

“True,” Nanao frowned, clearly thinking things through the best she could in their situation. “These are strange times. Kyoraku-soutaichou certainly wouldn’t let them execute me for something outside of my control.” Nanao worried her lip.

“Nor would Ichi-nii, or I. It doesn’t sound to me like you guys can afford a civil war, and that is exactly what would happen considering what is going on here. I am sure the spirit of the law meant for consensual relationships. I can’t figure they would execute so many women for being tied up and raped. The real, and only, question is; do we want to do this? I mean, I am not into bestiality, but I guess they are still ‘technically’ human. Just warped into a different form. At least you got a coyote. Dogs only knot and get tied to their partner until release,” she grouched.

Nanao looked less afraid and more like the analytical woman Karin knew she was. “It would get us out of the pit at least, assuming they keep their word. They could still break Starrk and Grimmjow’s masks after the breeding.”

“At which point I plan on letting Grimmjow kill me. Probably won’t even need to ask him to. He would be so pissed he would do it just to spite them. The other upside is we might get something other than rice and water for food, because I am to the point I need to convince my body to swallow the accursed stuff.”

Nanao worried her lip some more, her thoughts turned inwards as she contemplated their options. They did have a choice after all, it was just between a couple of real shitty ones. There was really nothing stopping Yhwach from having them both trussed up and tossed back into the pit at the mercy of different hollows. She shivered as she remembered the sight of that poor woman, suspended in ropes and held firmly in place while she was fought over and then raped. Nanao had missed that, thankfully, but there was a good chance that another woman would be tossed down in the time they would spend here, maybe even her if they refused.

“You are right. The choices are tremendously terrible. This one seems like it gives us the best chance to find a way out of here,” Nanao sighed in defeat.

“I would say it could be worse, but that would be stupidity.” That brought a bit of a smile to Nanao’s lips and the two women returned to where Hashwald and Yhwach were waiting rather patiently for them. “If I’m going to do this, let me do the talking. Grimmjow is just as likely to eat the messenger as listen to them.”

“Same. Starrk might take the news better coming from me.”

“Excellent.” Yhwach seemed rather pleased. “If you will lay down, Ise-san, Hashwald will prime your body for breeding,” he smirked at Nanao.

_Well, that explains how they found so many shinigami women in heat. After all,_ everything _in the realms of the dead is made up of reishi, and Quincy excel and specialize in manipulating it. I bet the most talented can even warp the appearance of another. It wouldn’t be much different than turning an adjucus into an arrancar, and vice versa, and we already know king ‘stash here can do it._

Nanao looked like she was having second, and tenth, thoughts about this whole idea, but she did get up onto the table and Karin stood by her side in silent support. Hashwald was the one who stepped up and rested his hand over Nanao’s stomach. Karin wasn’t exactly certain what she was expecting to see, but other than Nanao giving a shiver of discomfort as Hashwald’s reiatsu touched her own, there was nothing else to see. In fact, the whole thing took less than a minute.

“How do you feel?” Karin asked her.

“Like someone penetrated my stomach with a knife made of oil that oozed its way in,” Nanao shivered. “But otherwise fine and no different.”

“That’s good.” Karin turned her attention to Hashwald. “You married?” she asked.

“I do not see how that is your business.”

“Married, yes or no?” she asked again.

“Yes,” he admitted.

“Trying for kids, or waiting for after the war?”

“We are both warriors….” He seemed slightly confused by her line of questioning, even as she cut him off to get to her real point.

“So you are waiting. Excellent. Got any spare condoms?”

Nanao choked and almost fell off the bed as she was getting off it. Hashwald looked at her with mixture of shock and horror while Yhwach looked highly amused at her interrogation of his second in command.

“I… even if I did, that would defeat the purpose…” he stammered. For the first time since she’d had the displeasure of knowing him, Hashwald looked flustered and lacked his ‘haughty’ attitude.

“Barbs, jackass. Felines have barbs on their cocks. Even a child knows that. I don’t fancy my insides being cut to ribbons, thank you very much. Cats also mate frequently during a heat so I am going to assume Grimmjow will do the same. I will need probably a good dozen or so and a small pair of scissors to cut the tips off with.”

She wasn’t certain who looked more mortified at the conversation taking place, Hashwald or Nanao. Yhwach looked like he was holding back hysterical laughter by the edge of his tight pants and some inner control all nobles had to make them seem better than ordinary folk. In either case, the Quincy king seemed to be enjoying the rather embarrassing moment his subordinate was going through.

“I truly have half a mind to take you on as a daughter,” Yhwach laughed. “There should be some condoms kicking around in the supply room. Get a box for our charming breeder if you would.”

“Of course, your Majesty.” Hashwald finally got himself back under some control and retrieved a box from one of the many cupboards that lined the room while she tried to resist strangling Yhwach with his moustache for calling her a ‘breeder.’

“I am sure you can use the fangs and claws you are keeping as weapons in your cells to puncture the tips. For your sakes, I hope you can convince your cell mates to breed with you, for I would hate to have to offer you both to different partners, ones who may not be so amenable to your comforts,” Yhwach threatened.

“Well, if I can’t get him to agree, I’ll beg him to kill me,” Karin grumbled.

“I may ask the same of Starrk. I am sure a Fukutaichou would make a decent meal.”

Karin turned away from the two Quincy and headed towards the door, juggling the box back and forth between her hands and listening to the packages inside shake. Nanao came up beside her and the two of them walked out the door. No one was on the other side, but that didn’t bother her any. It had only been two turns and not exactly a ton of corridors between them and their goal.

“Now would be a good chance to make a run for it,” Nanao mused as she eyed the empty corridors.

“Tempting indeed, but I got a feeling there are a lot of guards just out of sight. Besides, running would give them an excuse to ignore the so called ‘deal’ we just made. We have no idea where we are in the complex either and there might be other bars blocking the corridors. After all, they let the other slaves wander about down here,” she pointed out.

“True,” Nanao sighed. “Are you really okay with doing this Karin?” she asked.

The true answer was, no, but she didn’t really see much in the way of other options. Instead of letting through just how afraid she was, not of having sex with Grimmjow, that didn’t really bother her other than the discomfort of his form, but the thought of having a child, one that wasn’t even human, that was the part that terrified her. Nanao was expecting an answer though, so she gave as honest as one as she could that wouldn’t send them both into hysterics.

“Not really, but options are rather limited. If you are having second thoughts, I would happily trade you for Starrk,” she offered with a hopeful look on her face.

Nanao gave her head a shake as she answered the hidden request. “I think I would sooner avoid barbs, and I doubt Grimmjow would bother with me even if we did. Sorry, you are stuck with the big feline.”

“Damn. Starrk is so much smaller too. Just remember that dogs knot, so let him pull away when he’s ready. It shouldn’t take long at least.”

“I can’t believe we are talking about this,” Nanao groaned. “Rangiku would be having a field day. She is just crazy enough she might even look forward to the idea of having sex with a dog or a cat.”

“Maybe,” Karin chuckled, remember the crazy redhead that drove Toshiro bonkers, and who had gone to a few clubs with her once she was old enough to do so. No one could manipulate men like Rangiku could. “Look on the bright size, dogs are smaller than humans.”

“That doesn’t help much. The first time should be with someone you care about, not some person you just met, and certainly not forced like this.”

“We’ll be fine. Who knows, maybe it will turn out that Starrk is the one for you,” Karin winked at her. “After all, if Yhwach holds to this bargain, Starrk will be returned to an arrancar.”

“It would be against the law!” Nanao protested.

“I thought the Vizard were being accepted, and no one seems to have any issues with Nel from what I have gathered.”

“They are, but I fail to see how that matters… Oh wait, I see where you are going with this. I guess the only real difference between a Vizard and an Arrancar is which side of the spectrum they started from. They are essentially the same race once converted. And you are right, no one would say anything if Hiriko-taichou started to date someone. That would at least open an argument for not being executed for forming a ‘relationship’ with an arrancar. Still, Starrk and I have only known each other for a few days.”

“No different than an arranged marriage. Japan is getting away from such things, but a lot of old school families still use it.”

“It is still very prevalent in Soul Society, especially amongst the upper class. It’s fairly common in the lower classes too. I suppose if we think of this as an arranged marriage, with rather unusual spouses, it’s not too bad. I can think of worse men than Starrk.”

They made it back to the main gate that led into the pit. They still hadn’t seen any guards, but they did pass a few other slaves scurrying about their jobs. The two women received a mixture of mournful looks and confusion, for they were hardly acting cowed like the other slaves and there were no escorts.

“Have you been added to our ranks?” Harunobo asked them surprised.

“I wished,” Karin groaned. “No, we are returning to our cells after that personal interview with Lord Dickface.”

“I see,” he looked at them sadly. “Would you like to walk around the cells, or just enter here and we can open up the gates for you.”

“Walk around,” Nanao answered for them. “I wouldn’t put it past them to open up the other cells from some control room.”

“Of course, follow me.” Harunobo led them back to their cells.

As Karin had expected, most of the hollows in these cells were considerably larger than Grimmjow and they didn’t seem to have that much room. If there were any women in the cells they passed, she couldn’t see them through the bulks of the hollows that were watching them with far too much interest. A few even drooled and were clearly excited, judging by what dangling between their legs.

Starrk and Grimmjow were both on their feet and almost pressed against the bars when they arrived. Both were taking deep breaths. Starrk hunched his shoulders, flattened his ears, and ducked his tail pathetically between his legs. It almost made him look cute if not for the fact he was still a hollow.

“Looks like they didn’t kill ya,” Grimmjow snorted.

“Nah, but in about ten minutes I may be wishing for death,” she grunted. She shared an encouraging smile with Nanao, then lost sight of the other woman as they stepped into the safety cages attached to their cells.

“What’s with the box?” Grimmjow asked suspiciously.

“Condoms,” she answered honestly, holding the box so he could see. The door behind her locked with a click and the smaller door into her cell clicked open to let her in.

“Condoms?” he repeated, eyeing the box.

“Yeah. I need you to be honest with me here. IF you were to be returned to an Arrancar, do you think you could find a way to escape?”


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karin and Grimmjow mate.

“IF you were to be returned to an Arrancar, do you think you could find a way to escape?”

Karin’s question bounced around his head. Could he escape if he were returned to two legs? He would have hands for starters, and that would be a big help. He’d gain a huge boost of power as well. The Quincy had fed him a good amount and he would be far stronger than his last time on two legs.

There was, of course, the other factor here. It was clear they had let him evolve as far as they were basically willing to let him go. He’d never been so afraid in his life as he’d been chained down in the middle of that pit with Hashwald holding a glowing blade of light over his face. It was either implement the next phase of his plan and set himself on the path to becoming an Arrancar again, even if it meant he would be putting his nonexistent faith in Yhwach, or have his mask shattered and be forever trapped at this level of power.

_He has kept his promises. Everyone who has sired cubs has been transformed and the whole family moved out of this pit. I planned on this course of action anyhow, I just never figured I’d be courting a woman I knew. Granted, it makes it a lot easier, and faster. I don’t do rape and it will be easier to convince Karin to let me mount her than some hysterical, tied up, screaming woman who would be just as likely to try and find a way to kill me while I slept. Although, I don’t think it will take much convincing,_ he mused as he eyed her patiently waiting for his response while absently toying with the box of condoms. _There will be some satisfaction in knowing that it’s Ichigo’s sister who will be carrying my seed, and a bit more over the fact she technically asked me. From what I have learned of her, she seems worthy enough; far more than any other option I will be getting anytime soon._

Karin moved over and checked her clothing to see if it was dry while he held his inner debate. She didn’t seem afraid of the prospect of letting him mate her, more annoyed than anything, and he doubted any of that annoyance was directed at him. Studying her sharply reminded him that she was human, and if he was going to do this, he was going to make sure she understood just what she was getting herself into. It would be silly to assume she knew much, if anything, of typical hollow culture or what he expected in a mate.

“You are willing to mate with me?” he asked, just to be certain.

“I don’t see that we have much of an alternative, at least not yet. I did tell them that if they broke your mask, I would vindictively let you eat me.”

He couldn’t help but to laugh at that and give his head a shake. She really was a woman worthy of his seed. “Since we are mating and not just fucking for sport, there will be several things different. As my mate, I will be expecting certain things of you. Guarding my back, sharing your meals, and lifting your tail, figuratively in this case, during each heat to offer me more offspring are the primary things expected of a mate.”

“I got no problems with any of that, but I understand hollows seldom go into heat, hence the request for mating every heat. Us humans, on the other hand, do so very frequently. No offence, but I don’t want to spend my entire life pregnant if we end up trapped her until death do us part.”

That was true enough. He’d forgotten how fertile humans were. The thought of offspring was a pleasant one, but he didn’t want to be drowned in cubs either. It was foolish to introduce more into the den while the first batch wasn’t weaned and ready to go.

“Since we have no idea how events are going to unfold, how about this? I will concede to this mating, and after this hell is over, or when the children are old enough to fend for themselves if we are still stuck here, we can negotiate more matings,” she offered.

He could live with that and agreed. Besides, there was a good chance Ichigo would murder him if they did escape for tainting his little sister. From what he’d learned, the hybrid and their sire were both very protective of the two girls. Ichigo just may offer her a cat skinned rug for a birthing present.

“We will share a nest, no more hiding in the corner. We will be pack.”

“I wasn’t hiding in the corner,” she rolled her eyes at him. “I just wasn’t going to invite myself into your nest and intrude into your personal space. It is yours after all and you didn’t have to spare me in the pit. I wasn’t going to start demanding you give your stuff to me.”

That was… actually considerate of her. He should have thought of that, after all he’d had to smack her brother over the head about nest sharing too. Just because Karin seemed to understand him better in a more instinctual and attitude level didn’t mean she automatically knew everything there was to know about hollow culture. That was why there were having this conversation after all. He didn’t know much about human culture, but he was certain having sex for the first time was a big thing, especially with someone you weren’t married to.

“Please tell me there isn’t some sort of ‘subservient to your mate’ bullshit?” Karin asked with a look that just _dared_ him to say there was, or that he expected it of her.

“I don’t go too much for that shit. I do expect a pregnant mate to be smart and keep holed up in the den until the cubs come and she recovers enough to join me in the hunts again. Or to stay beside the cubs as a second line of defence in the face of danger.”

“I can live with that since it’s commonsense. You don’t go into battle with a broken ankle if you can help it and jumping into a scuffle with a belly bigger than a sumo or leaving babies unguarded is just stupidity. Other than consummating, do hollows have any rituals beforehand?”

“No. _Most_ of the time talking is saved until after you pinned down the woman in heat and taken her the first time,” he admitted carefully.

Karin did raise an eye at his response but gave her head a shake combined with a sigh. “I suppose it has something to do with proving your strength and ability to protect woman and cubs, right? If you can’t pin her down, you aren’t worthy of being a sire.”

“Exactly,” he confirmed, pleased with her understanding and lack of judgmental glare. Ichigo had been aghast when he learned how hollows mated from Nel.

Karin opened her mouth, no doubt to ask another question, but a muffled ‘yelp’ from the other cell cause both of them to look towards the wall separating them from Starrk and Nanao.

“Seems like those two are already at work,” she chuckled while raising an eye.

“Who knew Starrk even knew how to use it,” Grimmjow joined his chuckle to her own.

“Alright, what’s going to be the best way to do this? You are a hell of a lot bigger than I am so I can think of two ways to try this. One is with you on your back and me straddling you, but I can’t picture that would be too comfortable for you, or me for that matter. You have a solid bulk and I think trying to straddle you would kill my hips quickly.”

“No,” he agreed. The thought of being on his back with his belly and throat vulnerable was enough to put his hackles up, even though she had no fangs or claws with which to threatened even his softest skin. It would be uncomfortable to balance on his back as well.

“The other way is with you on top in a more traditional, feline manner. If we dig a furrow in the sand for your hindquarter, a mound for my knees, and stack up all the pieces of clothing we have, it might let us line up without you having to strain your back too much.”

“That should work,” he agreed, rising to his feet and using his massive paws to dig out a furrow until he hit the sandstone floor. Karin helped him pile sand into a mound shaped more like a square pyramid before layering all the bedding onto it.

“Should have asked for lube,” she grouched as she opened the box and dug out a square package. “Lay on your side for a moment so I can slip this on. Hopefully, your barbs won’t go through the rubber. It’s thick and flexible, so we should be alright.”

“Is that what is in those square things? I caught Ichigo with them once and he just blushed and shouted at me to mind my own business when I asked what it was.”

Karin laughed and gave her head a shake. He watched her take the ring of plastic out of its packaging and use one of the hollow claws to puncture a hole in the middle. He shifted to his side and watched as she ran a hand over his shaft a few times, mindful of the barbs, before rolling the plastic over him. It felt strange at first, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. When she was done the tip of his cock was sticking out the end. She seemed satisfied with the result anyhow and rose, dusting her hands off and removing the uniform she pulled on earlier. He felt a flash of disappointment that she left the bra on, but his eyes became riveted to her sex as the black panties came off. She did seem to be a little nervous, but she wasn’t exactly shaking in fear or apprehension.

“Oh, I forgot to ask. Are you going to have to mount me every half an hour or something like a lot of wild felines do, or is a few times going to be enough?” she asked as she made herself comfortable on their make shift mound.

“Every half hour or so, but the mating will be quick,” he assured her.

“So just like a real feline. Great. So much for a good night’s rest,” she moaned.

“At least it will be quick, and only for one night,” he pointed out.

“Touché.”

She settled into place and he moved around behind her. He licked his lips as he looked at the broad hips and the legs spread and ready for him to plunge in. If it was one thing he really hated about his current form, it was that sex was over quickly. He moved into place and lined his hips up with hers. The sand mound helped, and he didn’t have to lower himself too much. That was going to make it easier on his back and shoulders. He rubbed himself against her slit a few times, pleased that the plastic surrounding him didn’t damping the feeling too much. The most sensitive part, the tip, was plastic free and he shivered in delight at the feeling of her soft, warm folds against it.

He moved slowly, not wanting to hurt her least she take her weapon to his head, or side. He was going to be exhausted after mating and Karin was vindictive enough to make him suffer if he pissed her off. Her body shook beneath his and he paused to give her time to calm down.

“What are you doing?” she asked, and he realized that she wasn’t shaking in fear, but in laughter.

“Going slowly so it won’t hurt so much,” he answered with a growl, annoyed that she was laughing at him.

“No offence, but in your feline form you are not _that_ big. Bet your Arrancar form is well hung though,” she mused.

“Tcu, fine I will tear right in and see how you like it,” he growled.

“Tear right… oh,” she laughed again. “I’m going to tell you a secret, one not even Ichi-nii knows, as it’s none of his business. I haven’t been a virgin in three years. Life on edge tends to make things like ‘waiting around for some so call ‘Mr Right’ just a little superfluous. I’ve had a few partners over the years.”

Now that he hadn’t been expecting. Ichigo’s little sister wasn’t all innocent like her big brother expected. He could understand why she would never have told Kurosaki such news, let alone her sire. The boys who would have dared to touch her would never be seen from again, let alone found.

“Damn, sounds like you lost your virginity before he did,” he laughed.

“Probably. I’ve had more spare time to do so anyhow.” They shared a chuckle before she spoke again, soothing the last bit of his ruffled pride. “I do appreciate the thought you were giving to the situation though. Go ahead and slip in. I am relaxed enough it should be okay.”

He did so, sighing in bliss as her heat enveloped him. She didn’t tense beneath him at all and even let out a soft sigh of her own.

“Damn, those barbs covered by the rubber really feel good,” she moaned pleasantly.

The sound went right to his shaft. It had been an exceptionally long time since he’d last gotten laid, when he was still an Arrancar actually. He rutted against her quickly, pleased with the little pants of pleasure she gave under him and the way she rocked back to meet his forward thrusts. He didn’t last very long, a curse of his feline state, and he felt himself shiver with release. He barely had enough strength to remove himself from her before he collapsed in exhaustion, yet another curse of his Adjucus state.

“Well, that wasn’t too bad on the hips or knees,” she commented. “Roll onto your side so I can check the rubber.”

He was more than willing to do so and went prone on the sand. This was one of the many reasons it was unwise for hollows without a pack to mate. It took a lot out of them and they were vulnerable for a good minute or so, at least after the first round. By the time morning came around he would be ready to sleep for the whole day.

“Thought so, it slid off when you retracted. It looks good enough for another round though as we are not exactly concerned with it developing a tear or being unable to hold in semen so much as keeping me safe from your barbs. The box should make it through this. I’m going to cut holes in a few others before the lights go out and I can’t see.”

He didn’t care what she did. He was just feeling content and honestly couldn’t wait until the next round. His claws kneaded the sand and his tail twitched slightly in pleasure. Oh yes, this was going to be a very pleasant night, even if it was giving Yhwach what he wanted, sort of. He had no plans on still being here by the time she had their litter.

_I wonder if I should warn her that three cubs are the smallest litter to have been birthed yet?_ he mused sleepily.

Well, he was definitely a feline, there was no mistaking that. The condoms worked perfectly, almost TOO perfectly as they made his barbs feel like very pleasurable ribs inside of her. Her only lament was that he wasn’t bigger to really fill her up. For more than a brief moment, she wondered how well hung his Arrancar form had been, even if it meant he would lose the barbs. She knew a good number of toys, some even in her lockbox at home under her bed, that could simulate such things anyhow. He was up every half an hour or so, nosing eagerly at her hips, but not demandingly. She wondered where he was getting the stamina from, for he certainly seemed exhausted after each round.

It was a lot warmer being curled up in the pile of makeshift blankets with him. Grimmjow’s body gave off a lot of heat and it was damn nice having a companion with sharp fangs and even sharper claws guarding her back.

_If he wasn’t a big cat, I got a strong feeling he would be purring,_ she mused amused. _Ichi-nii is going to skin him alive when he finds out, if Dad doesn’t beat him to it. Ah well, he is hardly the worst partner I have ever had. There was that one, single brain celled barbarian I took to bed that thought he was some sort of gift to women. For someone so well hung, he’d certainly sucked in bed, and for someone who could spend hours running up and down a field, his stamina was abysmal._

She’d had six partners over the last three years, well, seven if she counted Grimmjow now. They hadn’t all been bad and had served their purpose of calming her nerves down after a really bad week of exterminations, konso, and exams. The fact neither side had been looking for a relationship helped. Not that any human could really form a true relationship with her for they couldn’t see what she could see or do what she could do. The few men that could were all Ichigo’s friends and that was just wrong, combined with a lack of attraction to any of them. She refused to have anything less than full trust in a relationship devoid of any real secrets. Hiding a surprise present was one thing, keeping the fact you were the but-kicker of ghosts was something else.

_It was bad enough when Ichi-nii was playing stupid with us. I would never do that to a partner. Of course, at this rate I will be lucky enough to get back home in one piece, let alone find someone worth dating… or even have time for dates. You would think the Gotei 13 would get off their asses and end this bloody war already so we can all go back to normal lives._

That wasn’t really a fair demand considering the power of the force they were fighting, and she knew they were doing the best they could with what they had. At least they were deputizing the spiritually aware humans to deal with the hollows and plus souls Living side instead of trying to prosecute them for having abilities they shouldn’t. That was certainly a step up from the earlier days when Ichigo had first started to bash their heads in. Heck, she half expected that they would find ways to deputize _more_ humans to help keep things in the Living Realm from going completely out of control.

Grimmjow was out like a light now. As promised, he’d mounted her just about every half hour all night long. Her hips and lower back were a little sore from maintaining the position and she wondered if his own hind legs and lower back were sore as well. He was far too heavy to rest his weight on her and she appreciated that he’d done his best to balance his weight off her, especially as the night wore on and his limbs started to tremble in exhaustion.

The thought she had forcefully been holding at bay suddenly sprang upon her. She was going to be a mother. Dear lord, was she even ready? She knew nothing about raising children. Did she even want children? After mulling that thought over in her mind, she decided that giving her father grandchildren and her sister nieces and nephews wasn’t bad. Yuzu would be thrilled and after her father was done killing Grimmjow, he would be ecstatic as well. This just wasn’t the real reason to have children and she definitely didn’t feel ready for them, even if several of her high school friends already had kids of their own now. Twenty-three wasn’t a bad age to have kids at and she was on her final year of university, well, she was a bit behind now due to her kidnapping, but it wouldn’t be too much to retake these last six courses and finish of her doctorate in sports injury care.

Then there was their race to factor in. They were going to be part hollow. Did that mean they would be unable to live in her home, invisible to almost the entire world? Would she have to move here, or to soul society? What if the shinigami considered them abominations and decided to kill them, or tried to give them to that freak Kurotsuchi? Well, she knew in those cases her brother would murder them, and she reiterated the arguments she had used on Nanao to herself.

_But what if they are savage beasts? They will be part hollow after all. What if my own children decide I look like dinner, or Yuzu? Will they suffer that constant hunger all hollows seem to suffer from? Will they need to hunt and eat other hollows like Grimmjow does? Will they even feel a connection to me after they grow up? Or will they be humans trapped in the body of beasts, forever shunned and forced to live in hiding?_

At least she wasn’t alone in all of this. Nanao was in the same wagon, as were all the other women here. That helped ease her mind a little. When this war was over, she and her children wouldn’t be the only ones struggling through this.

_Maybe they will be more like the Arrancar and vizard. After all, they will be half and half. It’s not like my human life was really going anywhere. Other than schooling, most of my time was devoted to training and dealing with spiritual world spill off. Hell, I can’t even name any close friends anymore, just acquaintances. Other than Yuzu and Tatsuki, I wonder if anyone even noticed I was missing. A few of my teachers probably have, but none of my classmates would really notice._

The light clicked on and she flung an arm over her eyes as she was suddenly blinded. It drove all her thoughts to a grinding halt. Grimmjow twitched, but otherwise didn’t stir. Realizing she was naked save for her bra, she crawled out of the nest and gathered her now dry clothing from where it was hanging on the bars. She slipped into it just in time for Hana to come around with her morning meal. He had a mournful look on his face and he kept his eyes down as he offered her the tray with a full, real meal on it! Fish, rice, assorted pickled vegetables, a cup of steaming tea, and utensils were all aligned on the tray.

“That looks positively divine,” she darn near drooled, every morose thought now fully banished for the time being and taking Hana by surprise. He glanced up at her shyly while waiting for the outer door to unlock so he could put the tray down in the safety cage.

“Are you okay, Karin-san?” he asked shyly.

“Lil’ sore in the hips from holding such an awkward position half the night, but otherwise just fine,” she offered him a smile that seemed to lighten him up a lot. “We had enough condoms to get the job done anyhow, so no inner tearing at least.”

He let out a sigh of relief, and oddly didn’t seem mortified or embarrassed by her statement. “Oh, that’s good. You will get meals like this all the time now.”

“If I knew that, I might have talked Grimmjow into mounting me sooner,” she mused.

“If I knew that, I might have mentioned it,” came a sleepy reply from their now shared nest.

“Hush you, and get your beauty rest,” she smiled at him. Sleepy blue eyes glared half-heartedly at her, before he rested his head on his paws and his eyes slid closed. “Is there any chance of getting a bowl of water to give us both a rub down, and some muscle relaxing cream? If my hips are sore, his own must be as well. He did his best to keep his weight off me.”

“Actually, it would probably be his shoulders that are hurting the most,” Hana offered shyly. “I will see if I can get you anything.”

“Thanks.” She gathered her tray and tucked happily into her meal, saving a bit of the fish for her partner. Grimmjow was more than happy to eat the half she saved him when he stirred enough to do so.

_He may be resting, but I got a feeling it’s more of a doze to regain his strength than real slumber. I guarantee it if anything resembling a threat came by, he would be up on his paws with fangs bared faster than you could blink._

Hana did manage to get her a bowl of water, real washcloths, and even a clean Yukata to wear at lunch. It was a simple white one with yellow flowers on the lower half, but it was clean and far warmer than her threadbare clothing. It seemed to be made from wool or some other thick material used for fall weather. She handed what was left of her shirt and pants to Hana to dispose of. If the mating did take, her belly would be growing to the point her clothes wouldn’t fit anymore anyhow. It wasn’t like she was attached to them, save her bra and underwear as she wasn’t about to ask Hana to get her another pair of those. Unlike her outer clothes, her underclothes were still in relatively good shape. With a fresh yukuta she could even wash them and hang them to dry without needing to worry about flashing people.

She washed herself and Grimmjow down, for he still had a few specs of blood he hadn’t been able to reach from his bonus meal yesterday. Remembering what Hana had commented on about his shoulders, she took the moment to give them a good massage, something that had him groaning in pleasure with his tail twitching softly as she worked the muscles along his back and shoulder blades, by passing the hole going through his body.

“Fuck, that feels good. Sorry I can’t return the favour,” he groaned in pleasure.

“I’ll live. Besides, you are the one that is going to have to bust us out of here. I will be burned out from labour and not likely to be moving around much, not to mention saddled with a kid.”

“I would…”

“Run and get help,” she interrupted firmly. “Failure to escape would probably mean death, at least for you. They are not going to off assets just because daddy went rogue, and it’s not like I could stop you from running so soon after giving birth, so I doubt they will blame me. Besides, now that they know who I am, it is very unlikely they will kill me when they can use me to torment Ichi-nii.”

“They could give you to another,” he pointed out. “They probably would actually.”

“Che, I am a fucking Kurosaki, numb nuts. I can take anything they want to try and dish,” she snorted, affronted at the suggesting she would break so easily. Did the thought of being raped by another hollow scare her? Yes it did. So did heights, but that didn’t stop her from climbing Tokyo tower during a school trip and starting defiantly at the ground, even as her heart hammered in her chest in fear.

Grimmjow stared at her for a moment, then burst into laughter. She glared at him for a moment, before joining in. It was official, they were both insane.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nanao and Starrk's turn

Nanao had done a lot of things in her life that scared her. Until this moment, she would have said standing up to Yamamoto during Ichigo’s break into Soul Society was the event that had terrified her the most. Now… well, it was probably still the most terrifying moment of her life for which she feared for it, but this was a close second.

She’d dated of course, but she’d never had the chance to bring any relationship past the polite talk stage. She’d been too busy with her classes and then her job, which included being a nursemaid to Shunsui, to find the time to really date. It probably didn’t help that most men didn’t like a woman smarter than they were, and she was far smarter than most of her colleges. She just didn’t have much in common with the average person, what with being raised in the 8th Division all her life. Some days she envied the ‘average’ person, or at least the more outgoing ones like Rangiku.

Starrk was wide awake, the most awake she’d seen him in her short time here, as she was let into the safety cage. He looked horribly dejected though, almost pathetic one could say.

“You were not in heat when we were separated, and it has been too short of a time for you to suddenly be this deep into it,” he noted.

“Hashwald did something to my stomach,” she admitted, stepping into the main cage when the inner bars were unlocked.

“I see. That does explain some of the things that confused me. I was certain Shinigami only gave birth to one young at a time, yet the smallest litter I have seen is three. While it is common for us to have large litters, what with the dangers of the sands, our own race doesn’t change the fact that most shinigami would only have one egg to fertilize at a time, two at most.”

Her face went pale at that information. Three? And that was the smallest litter? Maybe Karin would only have one, Hashwald hadn’t played with her stomach, but she was not so lucky. Canines could have anywhere from three to over a dozen!! She was really starting to have more thoughts about this plan of theirs. One child she could stand, but three or more! Did Karin know about this?

“It also explains how they found so many of you in heat. I trust there is a reason you are in heat now.”

She shook the horrified image of herself fat with a brood of puppies and focused on Starrk. He was sitting now, and she couldn’t help her eyes drifting to his sex. The pink shaft was sticking out a little from its sheath. Despite that sign of arousal though, his grey eyes were clear as he looked at her patiently. He seemed in no danger of pouncing on her like a rabid animal.

“Yhwach is getting impatient with waiting for you to pick a woman. Either you mate now, or he will shatter your mask too,” she reported calmly.

Starrk let out a sigh and laid down, his ears going flat to his head and his tail to the ground. He looked so pathetic in such a pose that she felt most of her fear melting away. He didn’t look anything like a dangerous hollow at the moment, more like a puppy that had its favourite chew toy taken away. “The world is truly a cruel place,” he whined pathetically.

“You are not the one expected to get pregnant,” she snapped at him irritably. He cringed a little and his ears went flatter to his skull. She didn’t feel sorry for him in the least. “Even considering letting you mount me is grounds for being tried for treason. I could be executed for this if we ever make it out of here and back to Soul Society.”

That fear was coming back again, and she did her best to quell it. There were several choices open to her, but they all led to death. Some just came sooner and more brutally than others. She had no doubt that, by the end of a few days, she would either be killed or raped. If Starrk didn’t mount her now, she knew they would pull her from this cell and give her to another now that they had wasted the energy in forcing her into her ovulation cycle.

“What if I want my mask broken?” Starrk whispered barely loud enough for her to hear. “What if I don’t want to be strong?”

Nanao frowned at him, but his eyes didn’t seem to be looking at her anymore, even if they were pointed in her direction. There was such pain in those sad, grey eyes that she felt her fear and anger melt away again. He looked positively wretched. Shunsui had shared with her what he knew of the Espada, and what Nanao recalled of Starrk’s past was an incredibly sad one.

“If you had truly wanted that, you have had ample opportunity to let it happen,” she pointed out gently while gesturing to the pit.

“True enough,” he huffed. “I have always wanted children, or was that Lilinette?” he mused, raising his head to stare at the ceiling before giving it a shake. “Regardless of any threats, or physical signs of willingness,” he added dryly, pulling a strained chuckle from her as they both glared at his pink tip, “I refuse to force myself on anyone. If I do mount you, it will be as mates. I will be yours and you will be mine. I will defend you and the pups lives with my own. I will share my meals, my nest, my home, and my life with yours, as I will expect you to do the same in return. I will not shelter you like a glass ornament, but I will expect you to remain in the safety of our den while you are weakened with pups and to remain by their side as a second line of defence if we were ever to come under attack. If you cannot abide, nor will abide, by those terms, I will not mate you,” Starrk declared firmly with his eyes boring into her own.

It wasn’t poetry and certainly wasn’t anything resembling flowery or flattering speech, and yet she felt her heart swell. No one had ever _expected_ her to stand by their side in battle, had proclaimed they would not shelter her from danger. Most of what she got was flowery, and unbelievably bad, poetry from Shunsui. A few of the men she had dated while younger had wanted a meek, obedient wife, which she was not. She could fully respect the demand to guard their children, she would have done it anyhow.

“I think I can live with that,” she agreed with a small smile.

He eyed her a moment longer, then gave a nod of his head and he almost seemed a little pleased. _Perhaps because of his past with Shunsui. No doubt a small, vindictive, hollow part of him is thrilled with the idea of impregnating the adjutant to the man that had killed his own. I suppose the idea of a wife and children must seem like a bit of paradise to someone who had spent his entire life alone._

“As a canine, I will knot once inside of you. Just remain relaxed and don’t try and pull away, or I will hurt you. We will mate a few times during the night, four to six times max, to ensure conception.”

She nodded her head as she listened.

“The best position will probably be, ironically, doggy style. I am not too heavy that you should have much issue supporting my weight for the brief amount of time it will take to mate. I’ll try and keep most of my weight on my back legs.”

“You don’t even look like you weigh a hundred pounds,” she noted, studying him.

“Let me know when you are ready.” He seemed eager now, his tail wagging slightly in excitement, like a pup finally given a treat.

Well, there was nothing holding her back now, save for a mixture of fear, apprehension, and nervousness. Still, she wouldn’t be a master of Kido and a fukutaichou of the 1st division if she didn’t know how to handle such emotions. She was enormously proud of herself over the fact she didn’t shake as she shed her uniform and moved into the nest. Starrk rose and moved to stand behind her.

Something wet and wiggly slavered up her pussy, causing her to yelp in surprise and mingled pleasure, jerk away, and shot an astonished look over her shoulder at him. “What are you doing?” she asked, pleased her voice remained steady and firm.

“Preparing you,” he answered as if it should be obvious.

“Warning next time,” she grumbled, moving back into position. She thoroughly ignored his chuckle of amusement.

Starrk gave her a good dozen licks, causing her body to shiver in pleasure as his hot tongue lavished her. A canine had a long tongue and he was able to bury it rather deep inside of her when he was done his licks. She couldn’t help but to wonder how good he would be at this, and how it would feel, when he had lips again to add to the torment. Her legs were trembling in pleasure by the time he finally mounted her. As she suspected, while he was heavy, the weight was bearable. His forelegs hugged her, and his pelvis became flush with her own. It stung when he broke through her hymen, but the pain didn’t last long and he remained still while it slowly dissipated. He wasn’t so big as to make her feel uncomfortably full, at least not until he knotted.

His hips jerked against hers and the knot moved inside of her, stroking her insides in a rather pleasant, if minimal range, way. He finished long before her body felt his weight becoming uncomfortable and he untangled their bodies gently. She lay down and glanced over at him as he flopped down beside her in the nest, his ears and tail dropped in exhaustion while the tip of his tail still waged happily.

“Maybe once will be enough,” he yawned, laying his head down on his paws and promptly going to sleep.

It hadn’t hurt, save for that one, brief moment, but it had hardly been exciting or groundbreaking either. Hell, the best part had been his tongue. In many ways, it made the whole thing easier to swallow as she moved to nestle beside him for warmth.

He may have joked about only mounting her ounce, and it did seem to take a lot out of him, but he did nose her awake three more times throughout night. There was no pain the other times and by the last she was starting to get a bit of real pleasure as the knot rubbed her insides with his movements. There was at least one great advantage to this; breakfast was a full course meal and she shared a bit of the fish and pickled vegetables with Starrk.

If she thought this new plan of theirs was going to change any of their previous plans, she was wrong. As soon as she ate, did her morning business, and returned the tray and waste bowl to the safety cage, she found Starrk sprawled out beside her with his head plopped into her lap and his tail still wagging.

_Well, at least one of us is really enjoying this new scenario,_ she couldn’t help but to muse. She couldn’t even find it in herself to be mad at him for being happy about this, for he looked so much like a kid finally getting to taste candy for the first time, or a starving man finally getting a full bowl of clean rice instead of moldy, rotten vegetables.

She rested her hand on his head and closed her eyes, focusing on the deep pond that was his pool of reiatsu. It seemed a little less calm today as it appeared before her inner eye. There were little ripples on the surface that somehow reflected in a way that made the water sparkle and seem to dance.

_If I could control my own reiatsu, I could make some sort of glove for my hands to protect them,_ she mused as she stared at his pool of acidic reiatsu. _Eventually his power would devour the protective coverings, but if I make them strong enough, I should be able to use them for some time. Of course, that requires me able to use my reiatsu, and as long as we are in these cells, I can’t. Should have thought of it while we were…_

A thought came to her suddenly, one that just might work. She waited until lunch for Harunobo to come around with her lunch tray, one that looked even better than breakfast, before broaching her question.

“Harunobo-san, will we be taken from these cells to the medical room for checkups?” she asked innocently.

“Yes,” he answered. “They’ll want to check you in two weeks to make sure conception occurred.”

“Thank you.”

So, she would be removed from the cell, and relatively shortly too. If she could manage to cast the Kido to create a set of ‘gloves’ over her ‘hands’ and not have the Quincy notice, she might be able to manipulate Starrk’s reiatsu enough to get them out of the cells. Once out of the containment area, they would all be able to use their powers and the kido gloves would no longer matter. Starrk and Grimmjow would be able to fight on their own. Once outside of these cells, she would be able to bring her kido into play as well and having a slightly larger belly shouldn’t interfere in that too much.

“You have an idea?” Starrk asked with a yawn.

“I do,” she smiled at him. “Would you like some?” she asked, indicating her meal.

“No, you will need the food for the pups,” he sighed.

As she ate her lunch, she noticed a good number of the other slaves were in the center arena, raking the sand and cleaning up the messes made over the last two days. Starrk curled up in his nest with a sigh and ignored the goings on behind him. His shoulders were slumped and his ears drooped.

“Cleaning day?” she asked, watching the others work.

“No, they do that once a month. They are just making the pit look and smell pretty,” he answered with a grunt.

“Why would they… oh!” she looked out at the pit with a grim frown. She had almost forgotten the circumstances that had landed her in this cell. Had it truly only been four days since her arrival here in Starrk‘s den? It felt far longer than that.

_Rangiku is going to have a cat when she learns I finally let someone ‘into my hakama’ after only knowing him for a few days,_ she groaned inward. She sternly reminded herself that it wasn’t really her fault and it wasn’t like they’d had very many options.

The sound of a crowd gathering filtered down to them and she finally witnessed what a feeding looked like from the safety of a cell. She didn’t recognize anyone thrown into the pit today, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t the next time, or the time after that. Her stomach felt sick as she watched the event unfold. Once it was over and dinner was served, she had a chance to reflect on the horror show.

As brutal as it had appeared, the deaths had been quick while the slow consummation of the already dead person had been bloody and violent. Being killed by hollows was a hazard every shinigami faced. Death by hollows meant that at least their souls hadn’t been obliterated by the Quincy and ceased to exist. It was gross. It was wrong. But it could have been worse. They could have been lined up and executed, their souls removed from existence. They could have been thrown in cells and tortured for months for nothing more than sick amusement. Even though she didn’t know it, Nanao came to many of the same conclusions Karin had over the situation.

“How often does this happen?” she asked.

“Every two to four days, usually four to ten victims,” Starrk answered. “Sometimes they throw their own criminals down here, sometime Adjucus they capture in the desert that they deem unworthy for feeding and training. The latter two are not very frequent.”

She didn’t have much of an appetite for dinner when it arrived and tried to push the tray over to Starrk so the food wouldn’t go to waste. His eyes shifted from the tray to her, and back before he used a paw to push the tray back her way.

“Eat,” he ordered sternly.

“I don’t have much of an appetite,” she sighed, turning her back on him and the tray.

“Perhaps, but the pups growing inside of you need the food, and so you will eat for their sake. I will let no harm come to my pups and making me force feed you with paws and fangs will be very unpleasant for all around,” he growled with a trace of threat that honestly took her by surprise. It was the first time she could recall him showing real aggression that didn’t include self defence.

“I suppose you are right,” she conceded as her eyes drifted to her flat stomach. “What makes you think we succeeded anyhow?” she demanded as she settled down and forced herself to eat her dinner.

“History,” he pointed out, causing her to grimace as she recalled the statistics she’d been given on conception rates. Starrk was right. There was only a very slim chance she wasn’t pregnant, and the thought scared her.

She wasn’t ready to be a mother, let alone to offspring that were not ‘human.’ She certainly wasn’t ready for multiple offspring, and it sounded like multiple offspring were what she was going to have thanks to the Quincy interfering with her biology. If they did manage to escape, what was this going to mean for her career? Hell, she would be lucky not to end up in jail for the rest of her life, or straight up executed.

“What is the largest litter you have seen?” she questioned nervously.

“Six,” Starrk answered without hesitation. “Three to six tends to be the average. How many survive I cannot tell you, for mother, cubs, and sire are removed shortly after the birth.”

She finished her dinner, returned the empty bowls and potty to the safety cage, then curled up in her spot in the nest. It would be at least two weeks before she would be removed from this cell and could work on the next phase of their planned escape. That meant she was likely to see at least four or more ‘feedings.’ The thought horrified her, and just like the day she’d been tossed into the pit, there was nothing she could do to help the victims.


	12. Chapter 12

Karin closed her eyes and rested her hand on Grimmjow’s head, absently scratching him behind the ear in that spot she knew he favoured. It helped to relax her, and keep her warm, as she worked at trying to see if she even had access to Quincy abilities and powers. In the dark, the Quincy couldn’t see if she managed to absorb some of the sand in their cell. Now that they had all witnessed Hashwald using his abilities in the pit, they were certain that all the Quincy could. Karin was less certain as she was at least familiar with things like light swords from the various TV shows she caught on occasion. There hadn’t been a handle that she’d seen, but Kisuke could, and did, invent some fairly bizarre crap. It might have just been a light show, no pun intended.

One thing she could frequently find with ease while meditating was Grimmjow’s pool of power, sitting right there beside her. It was bright and blue, like all those pictures she saw of tropical oceans or lakes in the rainforest. Lakes in a rain forest was the best description she could think of for how his reiatsu felt to her.

“Grimmjow,” she whispered.

“Hmm,” was his lazy reply.

She licked her lips, then decided to just share her thoughts. “We know that Nanao has been able to access Starrk’s reiatsu, only that it burns her because it’s too strong, so we know that my original suggestion will work,” she pointed out. She felt his body give off a deep sigh beside her own, but at least it didn’t tense or show any signs of anger at her daring to bring the subject up. She decided to press on. “If we can get out of these cells, you will be able to access your own reiatsu again quickly. Nanao and I could do so as soon as we were in the hallway. One good blast to the doors and we would be out. After that, it would be Quincy brunch.”

“Too bad they taste like shit,” he grunted.

He lay there silently as she spent the time just scratching the spots on his head he couldn’t reach easily. She did her best to ignore the way he leaned into her hand whenever she did so.

“Very well,” he huffed in annoyance. “If anything, it will give you something to defend yourself and our cubs with. I can’t picture we would be immediately moved into a room with full access to our powers after the transformation anyhow. For all we truly do know, those transformed are killed right after anyhow and the whole thing is just a show to get us to breed little fighters for that jackass. Nanao did mention she hadn’t seen any new Arrancar on the front lines.”

Now that was a gloomy thought, one she put away for now. If it were true, there was nothing they could do about it anyhow. They would have to just wing it and play by ear. With permission, she finally dove into that pool of blue reiatsu, marvelling at the rough feel of it against her skin as she played with it. Of course, now that she was holding it, she had no idea what to do with it. Normally she just fused the power into an object and kicked or threw it towards an opponent, but there was nothing here to do such a thing with, save her bone weapons, and throwing them at the wall would be pretty obvious to anyone even pretending to watch. Even if she knew how to use Kido, that took the more refined power of a shinigami. It would be like trying to knit a sweater using two random sticks found on the forest floor.

“Um, I have it, but I don’t know what to do with it,” she admitted.

“Try a small bala out into the pit,” he suggested.

“Um, okay. What’s a bala? I know what a cero is, dodged those on a good number of occasions, but I have never heard of bala.”

“It’s a small ball of energy that charges and strikes faster than a cero.”

“So, it’s basically a pot shot version of a cero, got it. Let me see if I can figure this out. Wait, does it give off any light?” she asked worriedly.

“Yeah, maybe not a good idea to fire one into the pit. Fire it into the hallway. They are not strong so shouldn’t cause much in the way of damage so long as you keep the energy low,” he suggested instead.

She concentrated on the energy beside her, pulling a small amount of it into her hands until a small ball of light appeared. It took a lot of effort and the light poofed out almost as soon as she had made it. Biting her lip in concentration, she tried again, pulling a bit more energy this time. Once more the ball of light formed in her hand, but it was clearly unstable, and a moment later it exploded in her hands, scorching them a little.

“Shit!” she cursed. “I think I can do this, but I am going to have to learn how to control hollow reiatsu first. It’s a lot more chaotic than what I am used to. It feels kind of ‘rough’ or ‘unrefined.’ I am going to start smaller, see if I can’t make a small ball of stable energy.”

“Until then,” he let out a big yawn that was half mild roar, before resting his head on his paws, “I am going to get some sleep.”

“Yeah, me too. No point in trying to do delicate work when I am exhausted. Last thing we want is for me to accidentally draw too much power from you and blow us both up. That would royally suck, not to mention alert them we are playing about with ways to escape.”

“Or draw enough to leave me hungry enough to eat whatever I can. Or regress.”

She’d forgotten about that part, and barely held back a shudder. Instead, she curled up beside him in the nest, letting out a soft sigh as he curled up around her, his heat seeping into her. If this was what it was like owning a large breed dog, she was going to look into it when she got back home. Dogs were non-judgmental, you can tell them anything, and she could use the companionship.

Screaming woke her up halfway through the night. She jerked awake and jumped to her feet, bone in hand and ready to kill whoever was threatening them. Grimmjow was nowhere to be felt, but he did speak up a moment after her heart stopped pounding so hard.

“Labour,” he grunted.

It took her a moment to understand what he’d meant. The lights came on, causing her to wince in pain as it stabbed at her eyes. Hana and two others moved into the centre pit with armloads of supplies. The two larger men moved over to the cell where the scream had presumably come from. Hana was setting up, laying a blanket down on the sand where the births would presumably take place and double-checking stacks of small blankets and towels. The cell door opened and the two men helped the labouring woman out into the centre of the pit and onto the blanket. Karin’s eyes almost bulged out of her head as she looked at the very round abdomen of a woman who had to be carrying triplets! She was so big she could barely waddle. Judging by the fluid dripping down the naked woman’s legs and leaving a wet trail in the sand, her water had already broken. The door to the cell was closed once more and she guessed the Sire must have been moved to the security cage before they had gone in to get the woman.

Karin didn’t recognize her, not that she expected to. The woman seemed to be in some pain, but let out a sigh of relief as the two men helped her incredible bulk down onto the blanket. No doubt her back, hips, knees, and ankles had to be in pain with a belly that big. There was some heavy panting and one of the men started to mop her brow with a damp cloth while Hana settled between the woman’s legs. The last man sat to the side and picked up a small blanket.

The labour was surprisingly quick, and other than a few cries from the woman as she pushed, didn’t seem to be nearly as painful as a normal labour. Karin had attended enough of these in her father’s clinic to be able to make a judgment in that area even from a distance. The offspring seemed to be far smaller than a human baby, she would guess maybe three to four pounds max. Hana received them, dried them off with a fresh towel he discarded after each one, and handed the baby over to the man waiting for them with a blanket. She couldn’t see what they looked like. Between bent legs, towels, and blankets, there was little to see of the babies from this position. The babies didn’t cry either but seemed to be giving off little grunts and whimpers reminiscent of puppies.

Each birth was met with a howl of what she presumed was welcome from many of the hollows in the pit, with the loudest coming from the Sire. Grimmjow and Starrk remained silent, but Grimmjow, at least, was watching the births intently. Six were delivered in the end, which gave her a shiver and she glanced down at her own stomach in worry. Shinigami women did not give birth to that many offspring, that much she knew, which meant that something else was going on here.

When the woman was cleaned up, moved to a new blanket in the centre of the pit, and dressed in a fresh yukata, Hana and the others retreated from the arena with the dirty laundry. Once the main gate was closed, the cell was opened once more. The hollow that emerge was easily larger than Grimmjow, but nowhere near the largest she’d seen in this pit. He appeared to be some sort of cross between a bird and wolf with the back half having the tail feathers and talons of a bird and the front half having paws and the head of a canine. He trotted eagerly up to his offspring and nuzzled his nose into the pile of four cubs while the last two nursed on a breast each. The woman had her back to them, so it was impossible to see what kind of expression she had. He pulled his head from the pile of wrapped babies and let out a loud howl, one everyone in the pit, including Starrk and Grimmjow (who roared instead of howled) matched. It was quiet the cacophony of sounds that included roars, howls, screeches, and other noises she couldn’t quite put a name to.

The floor vibrated and a moment later a section in the centre rose, bearing sire, mother and offspring up. Sand fell from the platform like a waterfall of earth. There were several Quincy lined along the ledge and Yhwach stood on his special little platform.

Karin tuned out the speech the Quincy King was giving and Grimmjow gave a few snorts of derision during it. Her focus was on Yhwach as he continued to blather away. She wanted to see if she could see what he did when he worked his ‘magic.’ If she could see Quincy abilities in action, without needing to fear for herself or others, she might get an idea on how they worked and if she could use said abilities.

“He’s being long winded this time,” Grimmjow grunted in annoyance.

“I noticed that,” Starrk agreed.

“He doesn’t usually speak this long?” Nanao asked curiously.

“No,” Starrk answered.

Karin frowned as she watched Yhwach. She never would have noticed that his posture had been slightly slumped if it wasn’t for the fact she was watching him so intently and thus noticed him slowly straighten up. It was like watching someone wake up from a slumber and by the end of his speech, he was almost a completely different person than the one that had first started it.

Power radiated from him now and she watched intently as he used that power to warp and twist the reiatsu of the Adjucus on the platform. It seemed to be painless for the hollow didn’t make a cry of pain. When the transformation ended, a naked man clutching a katana kneeled next to the woman and their six offspring. He gathered the children up in sets of two and leaped from the platform to land on the outer edge of the pit, bringing his progeny, and finally his female slave with the last two, out of the pit where they were escorted out of sight.

The platform was lowered back down and other slaves came to finish the cleanup while Hana delivered her morning meal.

“Is that how most deliveries go?” she asked him.

“The babies are smaller, so even though there are more of them, they are much easier to push out,” he answered honestly. “We usually see four or five babies, with six being the largest litter I have seen so far.”

“Does Yhwach always do the conversation during the daytime?” she asked, a hunch pricking at the back of her skull.

Grimmjow and Hana shared a look of surprise, then seemed to think about the question before Hana answered. “He does. I never really noticed before.”

“There is no night and day in Hueco Mundo, so I never really tracked the time as it would flow for shinigami or humans. Now that you mention it, all transformations are made during the ‘lights on’ hours,” Starrk mused from his cell. “I wonder if that means something.”

Hana had to continue his rounds and Karin brought her tray to the front of the cell. “Did you notice he seemed to gain in strength as his speech went on?”

The other three gave negative responses. All three of them had been focused on the now former Adjucus with Nanao trying to get a better look at the offspring. At least it turned out that Nanao didn’t recognize the woman.

“It’s hard to believe that so many have been her so long. Nine months in this place must really wear on the soul,” Nanao sighed unhappily.

“What makes you think she was here for nine months?” Starrk asked curiously.

That caused a feeling of dread to crawl up Karin’s spine and she whipped her head to stare at the sandstone wall that separated her from Starrk. Nanao answered the question too quickly and calmly to have reached the conclusion Karin had.

“You said conception was pretty much guaranteed, or was she the one that took two tries?” Nanao asked confused.

“How long was she pregnant for?” Karin asked, forcing the words out through a throat suddenly gone dry before Starrk could answer Nanao’s question.

“Sixty-five days,” Starrk answered easily. “Canines have a quick gestation period after all. My own heritage is just slightly less, usually not longer than sixty, whereas wolves can be as long as seventy. Sixty-five is rather good.”

Karin turned a look towards Grimmjow, who was doing his best to stare out of the pit and pretend to ignore her before sighing and answering the question she was silently demanding. “Jaguars have a ninety-some day period,” he answered reluctantly.

“Well at least we won’t go into labour at the same time,” Nanao commented dryly.

Karin stared at her stomach, trying to gage if it was bigger that it was a week ago. Ninety days would mean a rather quick growth rate. Of course, something else bothered her deeply.

“Despite the race of the Sire, we only have one egg at a time to fertilize. While multiple young do occur on rare occasions, it is certainly not the norm. So why is three considered a small instead of a large number?” she questioned.

“Probably because ovulation is being forced,” Nanao answered. “If they can force that, there is no reason to believe they cannot also set it up so more than one egg is in the womb. With such short gestations, and the ability to force ovulation, they could breed an army in a few years.” Nanao’s voice cracked a little at the end, and Karin didn’t blame her. The thought was horrendous.

“Not all gestations are so short,” Grimmjow grunted. “Horses damn near take a year,” he grunted.

“Elephants, two,” Starrk added.

“Not really helping our situation here,” Karin grumbled. “I suppose on the upside, it means we will only spend three months in this hellhole instead of nine at the latest. Honestly, I hope to hell we can get out of here before that.”

“Getting out of the cell is only the first part, getting away from the complex will be the hardest part,” Nanao pointed out. “We have no idea where in the complex we are. We could be below ground even. This place could be the size of a division or as big as Las Noches.”

“Che, once we are out of the cells, we can blast a hole right to the ceiling, jump out, and book it. It won’t take Starrk or I long to find a way into the forest, and once there, we can lose any pursuit,” Grimmjow scoffed. “None of the weaklings down there would dare look at us twice either, so that is at least one less danger.”

“Well, we had better make the break sooner than later, or Nanao and I are going to be too damn fat to travel,” Karin grouched.

“Assuming we find a chance before being changed. It might be best to wait until that point. We would have more power,” Starrk pointed out.

“You want to drag cubs on an escape attempt?” Grimmjow asked with a raised eye.

“Not really,” Starrk sighed.

“I think I can access your power without it burning me, but I need to get out of the cell first,” Nanao reported.

“Didn’t you say Harunobo told you we should be taken out soon to be tested?”

“It’s been a bit over a week, and as much as I have been trying to deny it, I am definitely getting a bump already. Now I know why.” Karin could practically see Nanao glaring at Starrk, despite the solid wall that separated them.

“I can access Grimmjow’s power, but it’s really rough control at the moment.”

Lunch came around, interrupting the conversation for now. When Hana came back around to collect her dishes, she dared to fish for a little information.

“Hana, you wouldn’t happen to know if we are underground, would you?” she asked as nonchalantly as she could.

He glanced up and down the halls before moving close to the bars. Karin leaned forward as well and Grimmjow swivelled an ear their way. “The ground level is about equal to the balcony. The whole complex is about the size of a division,” he answered quickly before scurrying away with her dishes.

She had no idea how big a Division was, but Nanao did when enquired. The news was promising for while it was a good size, it wasn’t as big as a city. Maybe a university, which made sense when you put in dorms, training grounds, and this central entertainment pit.

A thud dragged her attention to the centre of the pit as an Adjucus landed heavily on the sandy floor. It looked wounded, but not heavily. It staggered to its feet and let out a grunt, giving his body a shake and sending splotches of blood flying from its multiple wounds. It looked like some kind of stag with some really twisted and branched horns.

“The replacement,” Grimmjow grunted. “Didn’t take them long at all, did it?”

“No doubt they knew she would be due soon. Looks like he won the right to live,” Starrk sighed.

“At least we should be fed well tonight.”

“What do you mean?” Nanao asked.

“They often catch a good number of Adjucus while patrolling the sands. When it comes time to add one to the pit, the prisoners are set against each other and the survivor is placed here,” Starrk explained solemnly.

“Why didn’t they replace anyone after the feeding frenzy?” Karin asked confused.

“They well today,” Grimmjow grunted. “As soon as he goes into his cell, a few more will be tossed down as the trials finish until all the cells are full once more. They do this every time a birth occurs. It is, after all, a cause for celebration.”

True to his word, four more hollows were tossed into the pit throughout the day to pick out cells. The last one didn’t really get a choice in accommodations, not that Karin thought it mattered much as all the cells were likely the same. After the last one was in their cell, dinner was delivered. The creaking of a wheelbarrow was a new addition and while Hana delivered her tray and waste bowl, two others heaved a huge chunk of bloody meat into the safety cage as well. Once every meal was delivered, the centre bars were raised so they could dine. Grimmjow settled into his meal as she pulled her tray onto her own lap.

“Anything useful?” she asked when he was down to the bones.

“No,” he answered.

Karin winced a little when his fangs easily snapped the bones in half and he started to suck the marrow out. It was just a reminder that his jaws were strong enough to crush her skull if he wanted. By the time he was done, there was nothing left save for a smear of blood on the ground. She had saved half of her water and used it to give him a wipe down once he was done licking most of the blood off. He let out a small sigh as she worked the damp rag over his hide. The lights clicked out shortly after the empty tray and waste bowls were retrieved and they settled into the nest.


	13. Chapter 13

Nanao didn’t doubt she was pregnant as her stomach was already starting to round and while she was inactive, she wasn’t getting enough food to fatten her up. It was easier to think she was getting fat from inactivity though as it kept the panic at bay. If Starrk was right she would only be pregnant for two months, and two out of six weeks were already down, making her a quarter of the way through. Exactly two weeks after they had agreed to mate to Starrk and Grimmjow, two guards showed up outside her cell door, exactly as Harunobo had promised.

“Step into the safety cage,” one of them ordered gruffly.

“Why?” Starrk demanded, rising to his paws and moving to stand before the cage so his bulk was between her and the guards. His lips were curled back slightly to show his fangs and his hackles were slightly up, indicating his displeasure. Nanao gave the guards credit for being professionals, for they didn’t flinch and addressed Starrk directly instead of trying to arise his ire by baiting him.

“We are taking her to be examined and to confirm the pregnancy. Someone will come to give you instruction to the viewing cell once pregnancy is confirmed and the image is pulled up.”

Starrk‘s ears perked up at that and he dropped into a less aggressive stance. “Very well.” He moved over to stand by her side while she rose to her feet and stepped into the safety cage.

“You come too. Considering the gestation rates, you should both be showing signs by now,” the second guard ordered. “I think we can trust you two not to scrap if you are brought to the viewing cage together, eh?”

“Starrk’s too lazy to pick a fight even if we didn’t get along,” Grimmjow snorted from his own cell.

“I am not certain if I am hopeful or not,” Karin grunted as her fellow prisoner joined her in the hallway. “We going to the medical room again?”

“Yes.”

“We know the way,” Karin brushed passed the surprised guards and took the lead.

Nanao fell in beside her, but not before holding back a chuckle at the shocked looks on the guards faces. _No doubt most of the women they are accustomed to escorting are quivering messes,_ she thought sadly, her amusement taking a sudden dip into depression.

They walked leisurely down the hallways to the medical room Yhwach had confronted them in. This time it was staffed by two slaves, both from the 4th. The guards stood by the door at attention, but otherwise left them to their own devices. As a military officer, she was impressed with their performance. The two women presented them with a pitcher of water to drink before going about the room and getting things prepared for the examination.

“They don’t seem too worried about us trying to escape,” Karin muttered, using her cup of water to indicate the guards.

“Escape where?” Nanao questioned. “We are in Hueco Mundo. Where would we escape to except a dessert upon which we have no idea how to survive? We need food and water, and we wouldn’t know where to find either. I am not certain it would be healthy for us to eat hollow.”

“True enough,” Karin admitted. They finished the pitcher of water they had been provided before Karin spoke again. “So, who is going first?”

“I might as well. I think it’s obvious Starrk and I were successful,” she sighed, indicating her less than toned stomach after shifting her uniform aside. It definitely had a bump to it, no matter how much she wanted to deny it.

She approached the two patiently waiting women while Karin made herself comfortable nearby and discreetly observed the guards and the room. There was a lot of trust being shown here considering both women had access to their reiatsu, but Nanao knew she was right. It would be suicidal to try and escape into Hueco Mundo, more so while being pregnant. If it wasn’t for Starrk and Grimmjow with the knowledge they had of this world, it would be almost impossible to survive. They had no way to leave the realm after all and they had no idea where in Hueco Mundo they were in relation to Las Noches; the only safe harbour in this giant ocean of white sand.

_Maybe we should start storing portions of our meals and hiding them somewhere. Once we escape there will be no food for us at all. Water is the big catcher, we can go weeks without food if need be. The pickled vegetables would hold well._

“Please lie down on the table,” she was instructed as she approached the two women.

She got up onto the table and laid down. She found her stomach was starting to get knotted up in worry now that she was laying here at the moment of truth. Was she truly pregnant and not just gaining weight? How many children was she going to have? Will she be put on trial if they did escape for being forced to breed with a hollow? Would Starrk be hunted down for being the one to sire the young, a charge that would most likely be led by Shunsui? What would her few friends think? If everything did somehow turn out, how was she supposed to raise a brood?

One nurse asked her questions while examining her body, the other wrote the answers down. Most of it was medical history for herself and her family once it was established she was a born soul and not a plus soul. They took a bunch of measurements as well and felt up her breasts. She couldn’t remember the last time she had a PAP test, but it was just as uncomfortable now as ever. She thought she caught Karin wince and wondered if the young woman had ever had such a test done. She was rather young after all. They took blood samples and set a cup aside for a urine sample once the examination was done.

Nanao eyed the machine they rolled over to her suspiciously as they set it up over her stomach and covered her tummy in some sort of warm gel. She’d never seen such a contraption before and felt her apprehension rise. What could such a thing possible be and why would they need it?

“Is that an ultrasound?” Karin asked curiously.

“It is,” one of the two women responded. “Now we can see how many, if any, of the eggs fertilized.”

“Never seen one designed like this. Does it read reiatsu or something?” Karin inquired.

“It does, although I am not honestly sure how it truly works. It’s a Quincy device and they only taught us how to use it. I wish we had something like this in soul society,” one of the nurses sighed, eyeing the machine fondly.

Well that certainly made sense. Nanao felt her apprehension rise again as they positioned the arm of the machine over her stomach and switched it on. How many was it going to show? Karin moved over to stand by her side with her face glued to the monitor with clear interest. She shifted uncomfortably, and was admonished for moving as the woman manning the machine set the curved panel over her stomach flush with the gel. Karin’s face lit up with interest, then slowly started to pale as the machine continued to work and the two nurses wrote things down on her chart and pressed buttons on the machine.

“Well?” she asked when she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Still counting and measuring,” Karin answered.

“How many are there so far?” she asked worriedly.

“Five. No wait, six confirmed so far. Not going to lie,” a small look of pleasure crossed Karin’s face, “they look kind of cute already. Can you print images?” she asked the two nurses.

“No. But we will pause the screen and bring up the sire so he can see. Most don’t want to, but we can move the monitor over if you want,” the nurse offered.

“I want to see,” Nanao declared quickly. If Karin said they looked cute, she wanted to see. If anything, it would help to know she wasn’t going to give birth to monsters.

More buttons were pressed and things were written down. Karin winced twice more, but otherwise said nothing. Finally, the nurses stopped their tapping and writing and the sound of grating mettle brought both woman’s attention to the cage they had noticed on their first trip here. You never realized how much bigger Grimmjow was over Starrk until you saw the two of them side by side. Starrk’s back was level with Grimmjow’s stomach as they stood together.

The smaller monitor was turned to face her way while a larger one was flicked on by the cage. She had no idea what she was looking for at first on the coloured screen, but slowly the image resolved itself into what looked like a litter of half formed puppies. They were kind of cute, but as she looked at the numbers beside each one she felt herself blanch in horror.

“Karin…” she whispered.

“I know. At least they are cute and likely to be adorable.”

“Still… that many?” she whimpered, looking at the image on her screen. “We only mated four times, how can there be that many?” she demanded on the brink of hysteria.

“Starrk must be rather prolific. If you think about how strong he is, it should be no surprise that he has strong swimmers. Still, just how many eggs do the Quincy seed?” Karin asked the nurses.

“Ten to twelve to insure at least a few get fertilized,” one of the nurses answered.

“Holy shit Starrk, you ain’t ever going to be lonely again,” Grimmjow laughed. “You got enough there to form a fair size pack, even if half don’t make it.”

“Eight, you mangy mutt,” Nanao snarled at him as she sent a glare towards the cell holding the two hollows. “I am going to be fatter than a cow with three calves inside of her!” she almost wailed.

“They are beautiful,” he sighed, tail wagging excitedly and ears perked up as he gazed longingly at the screen.

“I am glad one of us is happy,” she grunted.

“They might not all make it to term,” he pointed out sadly, tail and ears dropping a little.

Nanao couldn’t stay mad at him with that dejected look. He looked far too much like a kicked puppy and she took a moment to be thankful Shunsui had never been able to pull off such a look or she would never have been able to remain stern at him.

“I am sure they well make it,” she sighed. “The females in my family tend to be prolific too.”

“Are you ready for your turn?” one of the nurses asked Karin.

“Ready or not, it’s got to be done,” Karin shrugged.

Karin took her place to be poked, prodded, and interrogated. Nanao hopped down from the table, filled her pee cup, then took over Karin’s original lounging spot. She sneaked a look over at the guards, who seemed to be bored with most of their focus on the two hollows in the cage. They were not paying attention to the woman. With the nurses focused on Karin, she took the opportunity to work on knitting her kido gloves and setting them over her hands. She did so slowly, not wanting to draw attention to herself as she worked. She was done by the time it was Karin’s turn under the machine. She watched the monitor as the two nurses worked and started recording the information on their sheets.

“Okay, I don’t get it,” Nanao frowned. “I know they messed around with me, so it makes sense as to why I got so many inside, but I didn’t think they played with you.”

“They didn’t, at least insofar as I know. Why? Is there more than one? Twins run in the family so it honestly wouldn’t surprise me to see two.”

“More like six,” Nanao answered honestly.

“What! Sonofabitch! Did those fuckers play with me when I wasn’t paying attention?” she scowled. Nanao had a feeling the only reason Karin hadn’t moved in her rage was because she was pinned down under the machine. “They had to know I was in heat because every hollow in the bloody pit was acting fishy, and they did drug both of us. They could have played around while I was down without my noticing.” The glare Karin levelled at the two guards made one of them twitch slightly, but otherwise they didn’t move or respond to the accusations.

“Six?” Grimmjow’s ears were fully erect and he had a feline grin on his face. “That will really stick in Kurosaki’s craw,” he laughed.

“Yes, it does, thank you ever so much for reminding me,” Karin snapped angrily at him.

“Huh? We are mates, you have my name now,” he snorted.

A look of contemplation crossed Karin’s face. “Karin Jagerjaques. Doesn’t sound too bad,” she mused. “Alright, but only because I want to see the look on Ichi-nii’s face when we tell him,” she chuckled.

The monitor was turned Karin’s way and the big one flicked on. It didn’t take Karin long to scan the image and she let out a groan as she stared at the six forms on the screen. They were not as developed as Nanao’s young, which made sense since the development difference between them was an entire month. After a good, long look at Karin’s cubs, the floor to the cage dropped, removing the sires from the room.

“I suppose it could be worse,” Karin sighed as she was let up from the table to fill her own pee cup and get dressed.

“Thanks for the reminder,” Nanao groaned as she looked at her own stomach. She couldn’t help the shiver at the reminder of what the woman who gave birth had looked like, and she’d only had six offspring. “I am starting to think this was a really bad idea,” she groaned.

“Tell me about it,” Karin grouched. “At least they should be small, but I definitely don’t look forward to feeding that many babies. Dear lord, they well be at our breast twenty-four, seven.”

The two of them walked back towards the exit, the two guards falling in behind them as they entered the corridor and headed towards their cells.

“I am honestly wondering how comfortable a coyote skin rug might be,” she mused. She thought she heard one of the guards hold back a choke, but didn’t bother to look over her shoulder to see if she was right.

“Not a bad idea. Too bad Grimmjow doesn’t have spots,” Karin hummed.

They chuckled and took the last corner leading them back to the pit and the cells. Starrk was waiting for her in their nest with tongue lolling in a puppy grin and tail thumping heartedly against the floor. She must have had quite the look on her face for his head fell to his paws, his ears went down, his tail ceased all movement, and she swore she heard a whimper as she was let into the safety cage.

“Eight,” she snarled at him as she entered the cell. “You had to get me knocked up with eight, you mangy mutt,” she growled. “I am going to be fatter than a cow with three calves inside of her!”

A loud, pain-filled ‘merrow’ from the other cell suggest Karin had done something painful to Grimmjow and Starrk huddled in on himself; tail tucked under him and looking like a kicked puppy as she glared at him. Damn it all he looked so pathetic she couldn’t stay mad at him as it wasn’t really his fault, or at least, most of it wasn’t his fault.

She took a deep breath and moved to sit beside him. His hunched posture relaxed as she pulled his head into her lap and scratched behind his ears. His tail started to wag slowly once it was clear she wasn’t going to kill him. “The upside is I managed to craft my ‘gloves,’ so let’s see if I can safely access your power now. If we are going to escape, we had better do it before Karin and I are too fat to move, or while burdened down with eight to fourteen offspring. When we first thought up this harebrained scheme, we hadn’t even considered having more than one baby each.”

“That’s a good idea,” he agreed. “Do you not want our pups?” he asked mournfully. It was as if the very idea that she didn’t want his cubs was alien to him.

Did she? Would she be upset if she lost them? She looked at her stomach and rested her free hand on it. They were her children, even if they were not in a human shape. They were made with her DNA, came from her eggs, and were a part of her. But could she love them? What if they turned out to be aggressive hollows as they grew up?

“I don’t know,” she admitted, “but I am willing to try and love them.”

That seemed to be enough, for his tail wagged a little harder and his ear were perked up again. She shook her head at how easy he was to please and closed her eyes. She had gotten so use to delving into him that it took barely a breath to make it to his centre. There it was, Starrk’s pool of power was right before her and she cautiously dipped her kido covered ‘hands’ into the imaginary pool. The spell lasted for about a minute before his strength ate through it and she had to pull back before she got burned.

“They worked, sort of. I didn’t get a lot of time before they dissolved but I think it will be enough time to charge and get a blast off. I will need to wait until the next check-up before I can reform the gloves. I think I can make them stronger. How did you get into the cage anyhow?” she questioned curiously.

“The floors of our cages can be lowered into a series of connecting tunnels. The walls there are laced with whatever is in the walls here, and so were the bars of the cage. We could not access our abilities,” he reported.

“Pity. I was thinking, when we do make a run for it, Karin and I are going to need food. The pickled vegetables will hold if we can find a container of some sort to store and hide them in.”

“Wait a few more days. Cleaning day is coming up and they inspect the cells. If they find such things it might draw suspicion,” Starrk warned her.

Further escape plans were delayed as dinner arrived. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Harunobo not to snitch on them, but it was better to leave him innocent. She would feel bad if he was tossed into the pit to feed a hollow because the quincy discovered he had a hand in their escape or hadn’t reported their plans to his overseers.

“Nanao, I would be pleased if you would take my name as well, now that we are mates.” He had a very hopeful look on his face.

“Nanao Starrk?” She lowered her eyes as she glanced at him. “Starrk-san, I didn’t think _you_ were so vindictive,” she accused.

He shrugged his shoulders and looked at her, “everyone has a vindictive side to them. It would be petty payback, but I feel it would be fitting for me to claim his adjacent after he took mine.”

That felt like hollow thinking to her, but she did feel for him. It was clear Starrk had loved his other half very much, and her death clearly still pained him. It was strange to see a hollow with such a deep connection and she wouldn’t have believed it if Nel hadn’t shown her high-level hollows were capable of it.

“With eight brats, one of them is bound to be a girl. We can name one Lilynette,” she offered tentatively. It was a pretty name after all.

His ears perked up and his tail wagged happily, “I would like that.”


	14. Chapter 14

Karin was annoyed, very annoyed. She was sort of okay with the thought of having a child, even though she wasn’t positive she was ready to have one, but six was absurd. The fact Grimmjow seemed smug about it was what had earned him the large bruise on his side. He was learning quickly how foolish it was to anger a woman, especially one with pregnancy hormones. The fact she was suffering an increasingly queasy tummy didn’t help matters either.

“Good morning, Karin-san, Grimmjow-san. It’s cleaning day today. Can you please move to the inner cage?” Hana asked them politely.

“As soon as my stomach settles,” she moaned unhappily.

“Oh. Ummm,” Hana glanced around nervously. “I can help, if you want,” he offered hesitantly.

“Sure,” Grimmjow grunted, rising to his feet. “You ain’t worth eating anyhow.”

Hana offered them a smile and scuttled about so he could enter through the safety cage with help from Harunobo. Karin thought he was being damn brave, but Grimmjow had confessed he knew the lad from being stationed at Las Noches and it did seem foolish to eat the one that was going to be delivering your young. While respectful of the dangerous predator he was now in a cell with, Hana didn’t seem scared of Grimmjow at all.

While she moaned unhappily in a corner, Hana helped Grimmjow shake out the clothing and move it into the centre room before helping her over. “I can get you a jug of mint and ginger tea later if you think it will help,” he offered.

“Do you think you can get me a few, and Nanao as well,” she asked.

Hana looked at her, looked and Grimmjow, moved in closer. “You found a way to escape?” he asked softly.

“We think so, but the girls are going to need provisions,” Grimmjow answered without hesitation, taking Karin completely by surprise at the trust he was showing this young boy.

“I can get you jugs of tea, a lot of the pregnant women suffer morning sickness so it’s not unusual. I can substitute some of them with plain water. I will try to get you some oil sacks you can slip the pickled vegetables into from each meal, and another for dry goods like rice cakes, raw vegetables and dried seaweed. If you can find a way to let me know when you plan to make your run, I will try to leave a sack or two of provisions where you can grab them on your way out.”

That was all he was able to say for he had finished helping her into the safety cage and moved back into the main one so he could start cleaning. A guard had watched them suspiciously, but unlike the last fool, simply moved on instead of making a fuss when it was clear Hana was helping her because she was sick. Apparently, none of them were dumb enough to make a scene over something trivial and end up as hollow food out of stupidity.

“How are you feeling?” Grimmjow asked concern as she rested against the wall.

“Like shit,” she growled. “Escape is going to be a pain if I have to stop and throw up every five seconds. If we are lucky, it will pass before we are ready to go. If not, well, I got a feeling there will be enough adrenaline going through my veins I won’t notice an upset stomach until we are out of immediate danger. The ginger tea will probably help too.”

“It does,” Hana assured them with a small smile.

Once their cell was clean, Hana once more locked himself in with them to help move the nest back into place and get her settled into it. She wondered briefly if he did the same for the other women who were suffering like she was. Somehow, she had the feeling that every hollow in the pit knew who it was that would be delivering their offspring and tending to their… ‘mates?’ Grimmjow had quickly placed her at such a level and she wondered if the other hollows thought the same after the initial rape. Well, there was one person who would know.

“Grimmjow, do the others treat their slaves as mates after they whelp?” she asked curiously.

“A good number,” he answered with a grunt. “Not all humans are the same, so why would you assume all hollows are the same once they regain their mental functions?” he pointed out with a snort.

“True enough. Not all Shinigami are the same either, nor do all Quincy seem to be the same. I wonder if there are any that think this whole war is wrong, but are too weak to be able to protest, or too scared.”

“Probably,” Nanao answered from her cell. “Ryuuken is definitely neutral and has even tended to our wounded on occasion. He doesn’t like us, but he doesn’t hate us either, at least as far as I can tell.”

“Oh, Nanao, ask Harunobo for some pitchers of tea. Hana said it’s not uncommon for pregnant woman to get them.”

“I will. Maybe I can beg for some snacks claiming hunger, dry crackers and such help a queasy stomach too. With eight brats inside of me, being extra hungry probably wouldn’t be taken amiss.”

“A good point, especially with how fast yours are developing. I don’t know how I am not hearing your stomach growl in hunger from here already.”

“Several layers of nest,” Nanao answered with a sigh.

The rest of the cells and pit were cleaned with new sand laid down. Lunch was delivered and Hana was true to his word, delivering a thermos of ginger and mint tea, as well as a sack of crackers, to her cell. The tea did help settle her stomach, but she saved the sack of crackers for their eventual escape. Once the tea was done, she refilled the thermos with water and buried it and the sack under sand and clothes. The water would probably be tepid when they made their escape, but that wouldn’t matter when it came to keeping them hydrated.

The next day brought more sport, which she watched dispassionately from the nest. Since she was with child, they both agreed that it was unlikely she would be removed from his cell now and it was safe enough for her to remain while he ate his ‘lunch.’ Nanao occasionally recognized the poor soul tossed down here to be eaten, but Karin never recognized anyone else. It wasn’t like the list of Shinigami she knew was extensive after all with maybe two dozen names and faces on it at most.

The show ended with nothing special today other than it was Grimmjow and Starrk’s turns to feed. Grimmjow was unrepentant, but Starrk always look depressed when he was done eating and returned to his cell with head, ear and tail dropped as if he suspected Nanao would attack him or reject him for killing and eating her comrades. It was hard to say how Nanao was feeling about all this and Karin was just thankful it wasn’t her few friends that were being tossed into the pit.

_Granted, Tatsuki is vindictive enough to kick out whoever was in charge of the host and take over herself,_ she mused, remembering what she’d learned on how the higher ranks of hollow evolution worked.

“Are you feeling better?” Grimmjow asked as she rubbed him down before her meal, getting the blood from places he couldn’t easily reach with his tongue.

“A little. The tea helps and Hana has managed to slip us two more containers for water. If we are going to make a run for it, it’s going to have to be before the end of the month and the next cleaning day. Hopefully, they will take us out so Nanao can do what she needs to do to access Starrk’s power.”

She was coming along quickly now with Grimmjow’s. She could form a bala of good strength. She wished she dared practice with a cero, but it would be a little noticeable if she was firing out laser beams from her fingers. She was positive she could do it, but until it was time to escape, it would be foolish to let the quincy know she had access to offensive spells.

The pattern continued of feed and rest days. Her nausea didn’t get any better, but at least it didn’t get any worse. Halfway through the month another woman was trussed up and sent down for breeding. The horrified gasp from Nanao caught her by surprise until she realized that her co-conspirator hadn’t seen a set rape yet. They still didn’t know what happened to the other woman the ram had taken when Nanao had been tossed down here, but Karin doubted he’d saved her out of the kindness of his nonexistent heart.

“Is this how the others are impregnated?” Nanao asked horrified as they watched three chosen hollows, including jackal, square off and snarl at each other while the trussed-up woman sobbed brokenly and struggled against the ropes holding her legs apart and her body suspended in the air at a height that would make raping her easier on the larger hollows.

“I am afraid so,” Karin answered softly, mindful of the fact Nanao seemed to know this poor soul.

Jackal, boar and what looked like an eel or snake, continued to growl, squeal and hiss at each other while circling the poor sobbing woman who looked ready to die of a heart attack at this rate. Karin didn’t need a mastery of combat to know why the three were circling. As soon as one attacked the other, the third one would be able to either go in and claim the woman or attack them while they were tangled with each other. A fourth one had also been chosen, but the spiny-lizard like hollow seemed content to bask in the ‘sun’ and watch.

“It’s my turn to breed,” Jackal snarled at the other two. “You can have the next ones, or maybe mount your chosen bitch of a meal instead of eating it. It worked for those two,” he growled, tipping his head slightly towards where their cells were.

“Then do it yourself,” Boar snarled.

“I have been given nothing but men to eat,” he snarled. “You are the two to have wasted your chances for paltry meals.”

“He’s got a point,” spiny lizard snorted from his place of observation before his cell.

Karin barely held back a groan as they got into an argument over who got to rape the poor terrified woman and she swore she heard a sniffled sob from Nanao. The pregnancies were going to be playing hell with their hormones, and Nanao was much further along than she was despite the fact they had the same conception date.

_Forget the hormones, I think I would be ready to sob, or murder, if I had to listen to three men shaped like monsters argue over who got to rape and impregnate someone I knew. It’s bad enough as it is not even knowing who she is._

Boar finally lost his temper and charged Jackal, who smirked before leaping over the creature and charging the eel? Snake? Worm? Whatever the other one was. Unable to stop his momentum, Boar almost barreled into Spiny lizard, who snapped at him. The fangs missed, but the spikes cut a large gash into Boar’s side. Now wounded, Boar quickly retreated to the safety of his cell to lick his wounds. Eel hadn’t been expecting the move and Jackal had him dead within moments. Ignoring the corpse, he finally moved in on the sobbing woman while Lizard moved in to consume the dead. Jackal gave the terrified woman’s privates a few licks before mounting her. That was when boar charged again. Being a canine, Jackal was knotted inside his victim. His strength was great though and she let out a pain filled scream as he pulled out, red blood coating his crotch and her ass. Boar squealed in surprise shortly before sharp fangs ended his life.

“Fuck sakes,” Jackal snarled. “One of you get in here and heal her,” he snarled at the gate before tearing Boar to shreds as he ate the fool in anger.

“Grimmjow-san?” Hana asked nervously.

“Yeah, sure,” he grunted, rising to his feet. “Stay here,” he ordered her firmly.

To her surprise, Hana slipped into their cell and the two of them exited into the pit. Lizard retreated to his own cell, dragging what remained of his meal with him, while Jackal snarled at them, but remained on his own meal. Hana move over to the woman and, to their surprise, the roped binding her lifted and the centre platform rose until it was above the shielding. Karin watched as Hana solemnly healed the poor woman, who looked like she was begging him to help her. Tears threatened the boy’s own eyes as he shook his head and spoke softly to her. At least whatever he said seemed to calm her down a little and when they were both lowered back into the pit, she didn’t look hysterical, just mournfully resigned. By this point, jackal had finished off his meal to the point that nothing but a few broken bones remained. Hana remained close to Grimmjow’s side as they moved back to the cell. Jackal sniffed at the formally damaged area, gave his victim a few good licks again, which caused her to shiver, before mounting her more leisurely this time now that no threats remained in the pit with him.

Sad tears rolled down her cheeks, but she didn’t seem to be in pain or hysterical anymore.

“He’s a jackass, but he’ll treat her fine,” Grimmjow grunted. “Most of those fuckers would have just mounted her again and not cared in the least she was wounded.”

“There was enough damage that she might not have survived rough treatment,” Hana murmured sadly.

“Have you done escort duty for Hana before?” Karin asked curiously.

“A few times,” Grimmjow admitted reluctantly.

“The others call me ‘hollow whisperer,’ but the truth is I am just too pathetic to be worth eating,” Hana smiled sadly as he looked down at his hands.

“It’s because you deliver the cubs too. Healers are exceedingly rare amongst hollows, and any that are found tend to be coveted by the largest and most powerful packs.”

“Obviously not all,” Karin noted.

“They tend to be physically weak.”

Well that explained it. The weak tended to end up as food and unless the predator noticed his prey actively healing, they would probably not think about the weak creature before them being a healer and not just an easy meal. Hana had been able to show his skills before them in safety, so they knew what he was.

Jackal finished and used his teeth the snap the ropes. To her surprise, he even used his fangs and paws to untangle the poor woman and she was able to limp into the cell on her own power with her arms crossed to try and cover her nudity while he hovered over her. Karin suddenly wondered if Jackal had meant to kill her or Nanao that day in the pit, or if he’d meant to drag one of them into the safety of his cell to rape. He was far bigger than Grimmjow and probably could have used his massive weight to crush her ribcage with one leg if he’d wanted to.

“Ano, Karin-san, why do you shorten my name?” Hana asked nervously.

“Hmm?” she questioned confused as the slaves were released to clean the sands now that the event was over.

“My name. I know Ichigo-san says it’s hard to remember, even though I don’t think so.”

“You told me your name was Hana, which I honestly though a little strange since it’s usually more of a girl name,” she pointed out.

“Dipshit dinner interrupted the introduction,” Grimmjow laughed.

Now that she thought about it, the guard she’d lured into Grimmjow’s gullet had interrupted Hana while he’d been trying to introduce himself.

“Oi, enough loitering slave, get back to work,” one of the guards patrolling the corridor ordered. “I swear we’d feed you to the beasts if we weren’t positive, they probably wouldn’t eat you,” the guard grumbled as he continued his patrol along the corridors.

Hana bowed to the guard and quickly scurried off to fetch dinner. Karin turned her attention to Grimmjow and raised an eye.

“His name is Yamada Hanataro,” he answered with a shrug. “As far as I know, he befriended your brother when they broke into Soul Society to rescue his girlfriend all those years ago. He’s a member of the healing division and volunteered to be posted at Las Noches since he’d been to Hueco Mundo before during the winter war. He’s pretty brave, or stupid, for a rat and is one of the few shinigami willing to heal us hollows and not look at us like mindless beasts. It takes guts, or stupidity, to get close to a wounded hollow that is thrashing about,” he explained.

“Oh, Ichi-nii has mentioned him before. I should have made the connection,” she admitted, slightly embarrassed. “He was really upset when he thought Hanataro had died during an attack.”

Silence settled between them. There was only so much one could do in a cell and she found herself sighing in boredom a mere ten minutes later.

Hanataro returned shortly with dinner and she tucked into the meal, saving the dried seaweed in her cracker bag and putting a quarter of the water in her bowl into the hidden cantina. She ate the steamed vegetables, half of the fish and all the noodles! Oh, it was so nice to have something other than rice.

After dinner, she found herself sitting in the nest, leaning against the wall and being thankful the thermos of mint and ginger tea was helping to settle her ‘morning’ sickness. Silence settled over the arena and while the silence wasn’t exactly deafening, for she could hear others shuffle in their cells and make noises, it was still rather heavy. She doubted Nanao would want to talk, this was the first rape her friend would have witnessed, and she remembered how horrified she’d been. Worse, there was a chance Nanao knew the victim.

She let out a sigh and flopped onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. The lights flicked out and she felt Grimmjow’s bulk settle beside her own in the nest. His heat warmed her side and she found herself shuffling to lean against him. His heat at her back reminded her all too well of what it had felt like to have him on top of her, and inside of her. She felt her core heat just thinking about the way his rubber covered barbs had felt like caressing her insides.

_I wonder…_ “Hey Grimm,”

“Grimm?” he questioned with what she suspected included a raised eye.

“If you don’t like it just say something,” she snorted. He didn’t respond. “We still got some condoms left.” His head no doubt snapped up to stare at her, judging by the way his bulk moved beside her own. “Like you said before, there isn’t a lot to do around here, my nausea is down for the moment, and I liked the feel of those covered barbs sheathed inside me,” she shrugged.

“Fine, but only if I get to brag to your bother that you begged me to fuck ya?” She could hear the wide smirk in his voice.

“Sure. I’ll even throw in some fake commentary on what I said when we tell him. ‘Oh Grimm-kun, please, I need to feel you inside of me again. You make me so hot and warm,’” she moaned in that fake, campy tones the girls in hentai tended to use. Not that she had ever watched such things of course, and no one could prove it.

Grimmjow laughed and rose to his feet. She dug out the box and found one of the little packages that were still left. It was hard to see in the dark, so she rested her hand on his shoulder and pulled a bit of his power to make a mini bala in her hand to act as a source of light.

“You are getting better at that,” he noted in approval.

“Yeah, but I still can’t draw enough and keep it stable to blast the door down. At least we know my control is improving on the lower end.” She used her free hand and teeth to tear the package open and he used his own claws to pierce the middle. She released the power and shifted to face him even as he rolled onto his side so she could get at his shaft. She was not surprised to find it out of its sheath and ready for attention. A few firm strokes of her hand had it fully filled with blood and ready to go. “Try to last longer than a minute or two, well you,” she teased while sliding the rubber into place.

“When I get back onto two legs, I am going to fuck you all night long until you beg for mercy,” he growled.

She laughed and finished applying the rubber, making sure the barbs were well covered and it was in proper place. His tip was very damp and dripping already. It would seem he was eager and ready to go. They didn’t have the mound of sand anymore, but they wouldn’t be mating all night long this time. She shifted to hands and elbows and felt his body step over hers a moment later. His rubber covered shaft slid between the cheeks of her ass and slipped its way down until he was rubbing against her entrance. She let out a delightful shiver as the wet, pointed tip teased her nub; rubbing and poking it until it peaked out of its protective hood.

“How does it feel?” he whispered huskily.

“Good,” she purred. “Maybe we should wait around long enough for you to get your hands back,” she murmured.

“No doubt that quack Ichigo goes on about in the stripped hat will figure it out soon enough,” he grunted.

“Kisuke? Yeah, he probably will. Now shut up and get inside of me. This position isn’t the most comfortable on sand. The cloth doesn’t do much to soften the ground,” she ordered.

“I am so telling your brother about that line,” he laughed as he obliged her, silencing her retort as she moaned in pleasure as the sheathed barbs rubbed her insides.

It felt incredibly good and she shifted her body to rub her back against his chest. Unlike when they had rutted to mate, he forced himself to move slowly this time. He still didn’t last longer than four minutes, which was a new record, but it was four minutes of intense pleasure that had her cumming with him for the first time. He untangled their bodies when he was done shaking and flumped down beside her, panting lightly in pleasure. She rolled onto her side and curled up against him, rubbing her legs together and tingling all over. If she’d been able to, she would have purred.

The cell next to theirs housed a completely different scene. Intellectually, Nanao had known that women were raped here, but to see how it was done… to watch as someone was trussed up into what was basically a bondage rig with no chance of even fighting back while she was quarreled over by beasts was disgusting. The only redeeming factor had been Jackal ordering her to be healed before mounting her again, and Nanao doubted he’d done it out of the graciousness of his so called ‘heart.’

The worst part was, she realized that such a fate could have been hers. Unlike Karin’s case of mistaken identity, the Quincy had known full well who she was. The badge on her bicep was a dead giveaway and she’d come face to face against Hashwald in the past. When she’d been captured, she’d expected to be interrogated and tortured, not executed right away. Were they that confident that they didn’t think they needed any intelligence, or did they think so little of her that they expected she had nothing to give?

_Or do they know Shunsui so well, they know he would change any plans immediately after my disappearance, so any information they could get out of me would be old and outdated and not worth their time? Or do they suspect the information I think is right is wrong? Shunsui is too crafty for his own good._

How sad was it, that thinking about being interrogated and determining why they hadn’t bothered was the preferred line of thought at the moment? It was far easier to think about how her own fate could have been worse than it was to think of what the other women were suffering. She at least had consciously chosen to let Starrk mount her, and he’d been very gentle in doing so. While it had looked like Jackal hadn’t been deliberately cruel, the poor woman hadn’t been given a choice between death or rape.

_If I had been giving a choice before knowing Starrk, what would I have picked?_ She couldn’t help but to wonder. _Of course, I wouldn’t have been given a choice._ She shivered and hugged herself.

“You should rest,” Starrk suggested.

“Sorry, I’m afraid sleep isn’t on the top of my mind.”

Starrk let out a sigh and moved over to lay beside her, resting his head against her thigh. She let one hand fall to land on his head and scratched behind his ear, earning a soft sigh of contentment from her cellmate.

“I knew this sort of thing happened, but I didn’t really think about it. To witness it…”

Starrk had nothing to say, neither in defense of his kin or admonishment that hollows were not shinigami and were savage by nature. At least, most of they were. Since meeting Nel, she’d learned a lot about hollow evolution. They lived in a literal, eat or be eaten world, where the weak and soft of heart were nothing more than a meal for someone who was stronger. Nel didn’t talk about her pre arrancar days much, but when she did it was with regret and sadness in her voice and posture.

“We need to leave soon,” Starrk declared softly, nosing her rapidly growing belly. “After your next checkup, we will leave. Tell Karin tomorrow during our rest break,” he ordered quietly.

“I will,” she promised.

Starrk let out a yawn, then proved that, even trapped in the form of an 80lbs coyote without reiatsu, he still had the strength to knock her down and nuzzle up to her. He let out a content sigh and squirmed a bit more until he was almost curled up beneath her. With a deep sigh, he was asleep as fast as she’d ever seen Shunsui pull the same feat.

_I wonder if being able to close one’s eyes and instantly fall asleep is a trait all, or at least most, men share,_ she mused.

Shifting about herself, she stared up at the darkness and tried not to think about what she’d witnessed. She knew herself enough to know she wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight, so instead she focused her efforts on planning their escape. If she wasn’t going to sleep, she was at least going to try and be somewhat productive.


	15. Chapter 15

“When will our next checkup be?” Karin asked as Hanatarou delivered her breakfast.

“Today,” Hanatarou answered shyly.

They had expected as much, based on their calculations, but it was good to have confirmation so they would have more time to prepare. She sent him a meaningful look and his eyes widened before giving a small nod of his head.

They had discussed it the best they safely could, and if they didn’t make their escape after this upcoming checkup, they were going to find themselves burdened with young and separated. Karin did not relish the idea of racing through the desert with an increasingly fat belly, but she despised the thought of being chained here and used as a brood mother more. She would like to save being eaten as a last resort.

“I’ve been going through my tea by the thermos full, can you get me more?” she asked hopefully.

“I’ll try,” he promised with a smile.

She settled down with her breakfast and tried her best to ignore the other slaves getting the arena ready for entertainment. She still hadn’t seen any Shinigami, other than Nanao, that she knew, and she would like to leave this place with that still being true. It was bad enough seeing people she didn’t know being slaughtered and raped, she wasn’t certain she would be able to keep her sanity if someone she did know was tossed down.

“Tonight then,” Grimmjow grunted.

“It’s not your feed day today, is it?” she asked, just to be certain.

“No.”

She handed her meal over to him. “You will need it more than I will. One day of skipped meals won’t hurt much.”

He studied her intently before shuffling over to eat her food. She did use the water to clean herself and her yukata. Scent was something they were going to have to do their best to mitigate. The vandervich may not be able to track via scent, but wild hollows would. While she was confident Grimmjow and Starrk could deal with their wild cousins, it was best not to leave a trail of dead bodies the Vandervich _could_ follow.

_Or risk a stray claw making the escape moot,_ she mused.

The entertainment today featured only meals and she forced herself to watch. No one she knew of course. After the horrible display she and Nanao were brought to their appointments together. Their cubs? Pups? Children? Offspring? -Karin honestly had no idea what to refer them as- were growing well and Nanao’s stomach was becoming very distended. Karin winced thinking about how big the woman would be when all eight were ready to come out.

She ate her vegetables and rice at dinner before forcing the rest on Grimmjow, even the water. He could go a month or more without needing to drink so filling him up now was worth it, leaving the canisters of water for herself and Nanao. After dinner it was all about waiting.

She forced herself to curl up in the nest and try to rest, stuffing down crackers to combat her nausea and asking Hanatarou for more before the lights went out. Those she saved. She felt her body coil, ready to move. Beside her, she could feel the tight muscles of Grimmjow against her own, the hollow also keyed up and ready. The waiting was killing her, but they planned on moving later in the night when it was unlikely many of the quinces would be up and about. If her observations were right, the real danger of Yawach would be somewhat negated too.

Finally, they heard the signal; Starrk’s claws on the wall their cells shared. Taking a breath, Karin rose to her feet and rested a hand on Grimmjow’s shoulders. She started counting down from thirty while coiling his power into her free hand. At one, she released the cero, eyes snapping shut as the bright light blinded her. Two explosions reached her ears.

Then she was moving, her hand on Grimmjow’s flank as he led her blind ass out of the cell and into the hallway. Lights snapped on and the entire area erupted into commotion. Now she forced herself to the lead with Grimmjow by her side, able to move faster than Nanao with her smaller bulk as they raced for the hallway.

She drew some more of Grimmjow’s power and busted open that gate. Once through, she almost gasped in relief as her powers came back. Now it was Grimmjow’s turn as he rose his head to the celling and charged his own Cero. She took the time to grab two of the three sacks sitting innocently on the floor as Nanao grabbed the third. Hanatarou had come through for them.

The ceiling was blown off and black sky meet their eyes three floors up. They moved from tunnel to courtyard. Starrk took the lead now, picking their direction and running towards it. Shouts and cries of alarm flared up all around them, followed by gunshots and arrows. The Quincy before them stared in horror and turned to flee as Grimmjow and Starrk, unfettered, bore down on them. These ones were cannon fodder and neither hollow paused to do more than tare off a chunk of flesh to consume as they ran past. It was only a matter of time before more powerful opponents would appear before them.

Starrk lead them from the courtyard and into hallways again. The buildings offered some cover from the hail of projectiles and Nanao chanted spell after spell, blocking the path behind her with kidou barriers to slow the enemy down. It worked until they came to conjoining hallways, but every bit helped.

She could feel the flare up of reiatsu and knew the stronger ones were closing in on them. She saved her breath for running. If she could feel them, so could they. A wall loomed up before them and this time Starrk broke the wall with a cero. Behind this one was open desert. They were almost free of the place, if not pursuit.

Starrk was the first one through, followed by Nanao as the woman launched into a shunpo to get out of the place.

Karin cried out in pain and stumbled, catching herself on the wall as her ankle gave out under her, blood spurting in all direction as a bullet tore through it. Grimmjow paused.

“Go,” she snapped. “I will only slow you down,” she ordered.

Instead of leaving, he launched a cero behind her, causing their pursuers to duck for cover and curse before kneeling beside her. “Get on,” he ordered firmly.

Shocked, she pulled herself up onto his back, cursing foully at the pain in her ankle, before he rose to his paws and she held on for dear life as he launched himself out the hole and ran after the others. Nanao was taking the lead now, pushing off the sand with shunpo. Starrk and Grimmjow just ran. Behind them pursuit started to gain.

“Left, to that outcropping,” Starrk ordered.

Nanao changed direction towards a pile of boulders. Boulders, Karin learned quickly, that lead to a network of caves under the sand. Nanao continued to put up barriers, including down side tunnels to confuse pursuit.

Hours later, they finally paused long enough for Karin to finally throw up as the nausea from her pregnancy and ride caught up to her and for Nanao to bind the hole going through Karin’s ankle.

“You aren’t going to be able to walk on that for at least a month,” Nanao frowned.

“At best,” Karin hissed. “You should have left me behind,” she scowled.

“Che, your weight is nothing,” Grimmjow snorted. “Like hell I was leaving my cubs behind.”

“What now?” Nanao asked.

“We continue through the tunnels to the forest, then travel east,” Starrk answered.

“Las Noches is south,” Grimmjow pointed out.

“Yes, with an army between it and us, one looking for us. We will need to go around it,” Starrk answered.

“How long is it going to take to get there?” Nanao asked.

“At least a month, if not longer,” Starrk answered softly. “And that is on a more direct path without pursuit. The Sternritter will likely be deployed after us, and you two are in minimal condition to fight.”

“How much food do we have?” Karin asked.

“Not a lot,” Nanao sighed, opening the one sack from Hanatarou she’d grabbed and adding her stash to it.

Karin scowled as she added her own rations to it. The pile was good for a few weeks with two pregnant women needing to eat. Even with rationing there was no way this was going to last a month, it would expire even had there been enough. That wasn’t including food or water for Grimmjow and Starrk. Of course, they could feed on hollows.

“Let’s keep moving,” Starrk ordered. “Grimmjow, would you mind? They need to conserve their energy to make the food last and I am too small.”

“Yeah sure,” he growled, crouching down before the two women. “Get on,” he ordered.

They packed up their supplies and Nanao helped Karin up first before settling behind her. The size of her stomach didn’t help much.

“What do you think the chances of Nanao having her children come before we make it to safety are?” Karin couldn’t help but to ask.

“High,” Starrk sighed. “Come. The more distance between us, the better.”

“I don’t think I have ever seen you so motivated and in motion in my life,” Grimmjow chuckled as the two adjucus moved through the tunnels at a brisk pace.

“I will not have my pups or mate come to harm,” Starrk answered with a growl. “I have waited far too long for this.”

“Even after our escape?” Nanao asked.

“You agreed to be mine,” Starrk answered.

“Umm, this mating thing, is it for life?” Karin asked apprehensively. That was something that she hadn’t even considered.

“Till death do us part,” Grimmjow answered.

She felt Nanao stiffen behind her and the hands holding onto her for balance tightened.

“I take it there is no such thing as divorce in the hollow world?” Karin asked carefully.

“What’s divorce?” Grimmjow asked confused.

“Never mind. Karin Jaggerjaques,” she mused the named again before glancing over her shoulder at a pensive looking Nanao, “and Nanao Starrk. Not bad names at least. I still think Kurosaki Grimmjow sounds good though.”

“Fuck that,” Grimmjow growled.

“Ise Coyote sounds terrible,” Nanao offered with a small smile of amusement.

“That is terrible,” Karin agreed with a shudder.

They fell into silence after that, travelling through the twisting, maze like tunnels until they came out into a forest of crystalline trees. The sight took their breaths away as Starrk and Grimmjow moved into the branches and started to race away. Occasionally Karin caught sight of another hollow, but it was usually its tail, or equivalent, fleeing from the two powerful adjucus.

Time had no meaning here. There was no day cycle and they stopped only when rest and food was required. They rationed the best they could, but after two weeks of travelling through the forest their food ran out. At least their water was good. Starrk and Grimmjow were good at finding the hidden springs of water.

“That’s the last of it,” Nanao said morosely as she handed Karin four crackers, keeping four for herself.

“How much further to Las Nochas?” Karin asked apprehensively.

“We are about halfway there,” Starrk answered.

Nanao could barely move, her stomach so distended now that the pups had to be arriving soon and Karin’s ankle still couldn’t bear her weight.

“Here,” Karin handed Nanao her four crackers.

“No.”

“Yes,” Karin interrupted. “You are clearly days out from going into labour and you are going to need your strength.”

Nanao looked at the meagre meal before sullenly nodding her head and eating the eight crackers. Karin could feel the contractions against her back and knew they were getting closer and closer together. She’d seen enough babies delivered in her family clinic to know the signs.

“We will need to find a den,” Starrk sighed.

“Above,” Grimmjow agreed.

“It should be safe to return to the sands. If we find a good enough den, perhaps one of us can run ahead to get help.”

“There was that mountain range,” Grimmjow offered.

“We could make it there in time,” Starrk mused. “It is out of our way, but it would be safest for cubs and mates.”

They were all avoiding the real problem; food. Karin and Nanao were out and not likely to be able to go long before starving to death. There was only one type of food in Hueco Mundo and they were unlikely to avoid it any longer.

“How much of the meat I shared was hollow meat?” Karin asked, being the first to be brave enough to bring the subject up.

“At least half,” Grimmjow answered honestly.

“None of the others were likely to tell their partners what they were eating, were they?”

“No,” Starrk answered.

“So, it’s safe to assume most of the other Shinigami women have been eating hollow meat without too much in the way of adverse effects,” she sighed.

Nanao shivered, but they were out of options. That night, Grimmjow brought back a kill and with some kidou from Nanao, they managed to cook the meat. Karin was the first brave enough to take a bite, chewing slowly.

“Well?” Nanao asked after she swallowed.

“Taste like chicken,” she shrugged, taking another hungry mouthful.

Nanao finally managed to take a bite of her own meat. They ate in silence until their pieces were gone. Karin frowned as she rubbed her tummy, noting something odd. Nanao was the one able to put it into words.

“I feel full for the first time in ages.”

“Yeah. Odd,” Karin frowned.

It wasn’t like they had been starved, at least after becoming pregnant, but it never seemed like the meals were large enough. Perhaps it had something to do with the offspring growing inside of them. Or, more likely, because this was the first time they had gotten a full meal outside of the containment the Quincy had kept them in.

“So long as it works,” Grimmjow grunted.

They shifted direction and their journey took a new urgency. Starrk was pushing them hard, so hard it left even Grimmjow panting in the coyote’s wake and needing to rest while the stronger hollow hunted for them. Finally, they entered another series of maze-like tunnels before coming back out onto the sands, or rather, out into a mountain range.

“This way,” Grimmjow took the lead, heading down out of the mountains instead of deeper into them.

“You have an idea?” Starrk asked.

“Yeah, I know a den I used once. Small entrance, it will keep any of the larger dumbasses away from our cubs. Everyone knows to check mountains, no one looks too hard in the dessert.”

It took two days to reach a rocky outcropping some distance from the mountain range. Starrk led the way through the small entrance, and it was small. Karin and Nanao had to go in on hands and knees since their large bellies made it too hard to crouch. Grimmjow had to drag himself in, wriggling on his belly. The tunnel was long and twisted several times before they came out into a bedroom sized room. It was slightly larger than their cells had been, and the roof was high enough in most of the room for them to stand.

“This will do nicely,” Starrk nodded. “I will hunt, you will guard.”

“Che, because I wanted to be in another cell,” Grimmjow grunted.

“Your bulk alone will block the tunnel,” Starrk pointed out.

“Yeah, whatever. Go get us some food.”

“I think we can make a small nest with the sacks,” Nanao mused.

“Better than nothing,” Karin agreed. “I don’t suppose there is a kidou to make cloth is there?” she asked hopefully.

“No, nor have we seen anything resembling reeds to weave a mat together.”

“We aren’t planning to move in,” Grimmjow snorted.

“Do you want to be the one to huddle in the sand pushing cubs out?” Karin snapped at him.

He wisely kept his maw shut, eye shifting to the bone club she still carried. He knew from experience how hard she could hit with that and had no desire to discover how hard she could now that she had access to her reiatsu.

The women picked a corner away from the entrance, laying out the empty sacks and stacking their water bottles off to the side. They settled down together and it wasn’t long before their breathing evened out, indicating they were asleep. Good. They hadn’t been getting much sleep on the run and they were going to need their rest to deliver the young.

Starrk returned several hours later, dragging the hindquarters of some unfortunate adjucus into the cave. Grimmjow used his claws to sheer off a few chunks for their mates before devouring the rest.

“Well?” he asked.

“Las Nochas is about three-day travel away. I didn’t catch hint of the enemy,” Starrk reported.

“Is that three days for our speed or three days for your speed?” Grimmjow asked.

“Patrol speed,” Starrk answered.

“So, there is a chance we might find a patrol if we travel a day out,” he mused. He had participated in a good number of those patrols with Ichigo before his capture.

“There is a chance Nanao might be able to get a kidou message out,” Starrk mused.

“Maybe after the cubs. She’s about to pop. I could feel the contractions on my spine and even though she hasn’t said anything, Karin’s worried.”

“I should go and bring back help. You are right, she is about to pop.”

“No,” Grimmjow rose to his paws. “I’ll go. They don’t know you, you are stronger to protect our mates, and you should be here if your cubs pop before help arrives.”

That was true. The shinigami stationed at Las Nochas were familiar with Grimmjow’s adjucus form, while having never met his.

“Fine,” Starrk sighed in defeat.

“I wonder if I can get one for the road?” he mused, glancing at Karin.

“I doubt it. They are not so open with sex as we are,” Starrk rolled his eyes.

“I got an idea,” Grimmjow smirked, grabbing the femur from his meal and working it into the sandstone walls.

“What are you doing?” Karin demanded sleepily as his actions woke the woman.

“Hoping to get laid,” he answered around the shaft of bone.

“Really?” Karin asked with a raised eye and crossed arms.

“Got it,” he smirked in triumph. “We can hang your kimono over the bone to make a chamber.”

Karin looked at the bone rod before glancing at Nanao, who had a blush on her face.

“Is this so you can have my scent all over you?” Karin asked suspiciously.

“If your brother had a sense of smell worth mentioning, maybe. I want one for the road. If all goes well, I will be back with help in a few days.”

“Ah,” Karin nodded in understanding. “Do you mind Nanao?” she asked.

“Uh, no. Excuse me,” Nanao scrambled out of the corner the best she could, giving Karin an odd look.

Karin took off her Kimono and hung it on the makeshift rod, giving them the illusion of some privacy.

“For the record, I didn’t pack the condoms, didn’t think we would need them.”

Oh, his barbs might be a thing.

“Fortunately, we got our powers back, so I should be able to do something to mitigate them, but if I tell you to stop, you stop,” she said firmly.

“I will,” he promised.

He grinned as he watched her move the bags aside so they wouldn’t get dirty, then shift about until she was in a somewhat comfortable position. His shaft all but shot out of its sheath as he watched Karin work herself with her fingers before indicating she was ready.

He moved over her and sank into her warm heat, letting out a sigh of pleasure. He rested for a moment, just lavishing in the tight embrace before pulling back out very slowly. She let out a loud moan of pleasure and this time rocked back to meet him when he thrust forward. It was a short frenzy after that, and he was thankful his barbs seemed to be fine because he was not certain he could have stopped. With a final grunt, and a slight dismayed feeling this form had such little stamina, he buried himself deep into her and let out a mild roar of satisfaction as he finished.

Karin was panting beneath him, covered in sweat and slowly sinking to the ground with a look of bliss.

“Bestiality aside, if you ever make it back to your arrancar form, I am going to miss those barbs,” she murmured sleepily. “Oi, Nanao, you and Starrk want a turn before Grimmjow needs to head out?” she called.

“We are fine, thank you,” Nanao quickly assured them. “Besides, I am so ready to pop anything strenuous might break my water.”

“Fair enough,” Karin shrugged.

“I should get going,” he stretched.

“Be careful,” Karin whispered softly. “Don’t be a hero, be safe. There is no way in all the layers of hell I am raising a brood of six because you got your tail in a twist.”

“No promises.” He offered her an affectionate nuzzle before slipping out of the cave and down the tunnel until he was out of sight. Outside, Starrk was waiting for him.

“I am trusting you to this Grimmjow,” Starrk growled.

“I know. I am trusting you to keep my mate and cubs safe.”

“I know.”

With that, he took off across the sands towards Las Nochas, keeping his reiatsu pulled in tight and stalking through the sands like he hadn’t done in some time. He didn’t have time to fight every would be adjucus on its way up and he couldn’t afford to be recaptured, or killed, by the Quincy.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pups

She was uncomfortable and in pain. Karin watched her warily and even sent Starrk out to refill their water containers and bring back a chunk of hollowed wood for a bowl if he could. He had protested at first, not wanting to leave them unguarded, but Karin had insisted it was necessary for the cubs to be born.

“Why do women want kids?” Nanao moaned.

“Because the other side is worth the pain, or so I’ve been told,” Karin answered without hesitation.

“Answered that one before, huh?” Nanao asked, wincing as another contraction struck.

“A dozen times,” Karin chuckled. “From what we saw in the pit though, it should be easier than a normal birth. There are eight in there and they won’t be full size. After the first one comes, the rest should follow quickly.”

Starrk returned with a piece of crystalized tree that was slightly hollowed out, enough to act as a makeshift bowl anyway. Karin filled it with water and set it aside before going through their few pieces of fabric and picking out one of the sacks.

“It’s going to get messy, so this one we can use for you to rest on. Not sure how we are going to clean all eight pups though,” Karin frowned.

“I will clean them,” Starrk declared.

“How long do you think this will take?” Nanao asked between contraction.

“Depends on how the birth goes. Once the water goes, it should progress quickly. How apart are your contractions now?”

“About ninety seconds, sometimes more,” she answered.

“Soon than. Let’s get you stripped. I want to check the dilation.”

She pulled off her clothing and lay down on the birthing sack. Starrk moved behind her to act as a backrest while Karin settled between her legs. Probing fingers started to feel her up and she winced in discomfort. What was worse was when Karin pressed down on her stomach, feeling around.

“You are about sixty percent dilated. The pups will be here in a few hours at most,” Karin answered. “For now, try to relax and save your strength.”

She had some choice words about the idea of relaxing, but she held them back. Karin would get her due shortly anyhow. Water was offered frequently as she was sweating it off and it was important to remain hydrated. Finally, a buildup of pressure released, and liquid ran down her legs onto the sack and sand. Behind her, Starrk’s ears perked and he gave a little whine.

Karin probed her again, not at all concerned with the squishy mess before giving a nod of her head. “You are fully dilated. You can start pushing with the contractions.”

Yes, pushing. She wanted the things out of her. She wanted the pain to end. She wanted to turn Starrk’s hide into a rug and use Shunsui’s as the underside for keeping her out of battle for so long she’d fallen prey to the Vandervich so easily.

With the next contraction she bore down, groaning in discomfort and wishing she had something to grasp with her hands. As she panted waiting for the next one, she grasped around until she found something warm and round shaped. Starrk’s yelp of pain as she mangled his tail on the next round of pushing almost absolved him of the crime of doing this to her.

“Perfect, I can see the head already. Nice and small as expected. They shouldn’t take long each,” Karin encouraged.

It didn’t. A dozen pushes and the thing plopped out of her. Karin quickly wrapped the baby in a sack and moved it over by Starrk’s head. Nanao didn’t get a chance to look because she could already feel the second one coming. Behind her, Starrk started to lick the squirming, cutely grunting offspring clean of birthing fluids without any sign of discomfort.

Karin caught the second pup as it was born, transferring it to the sack by Starrk’s head with barely enough time to catch the third. Now that the first two had stretched the path, the rest were following in their siblings wake quickly. Before long, Starrk has his head buried in a squirming pile of pups with his tail wagging like a possessed thing, even with Nanao’s grip on it.

Two came out feet first but with their small size the only result was her needing to push a bit harder. Finally, the last one was out, and she collapsed against Starrk in exhaustion; releasing his tail so it could fan her with its swift motions.

“All eight, about four pounds at most I would say,” Karin announced.

“I want to see,” she panted.

“Sure, you can hold one while I get you cleaned up.”

Karin handed her one of the pups, and pup was an apt name. It was white with black splotches on its scales and had black hair on the top of its head. Its eyes were closed, and it made cute little puppy noises as it nosed about looking for milk. Nanao hardly even noticed Karin cleaning up the mess between her legs and removing the soiled sack and sand as she gazed at the extremely cute thing in her hands.

Hesitantly, she offered it one of her nipples and it latched on. She accepted another pup, this one pure black with white hair on its head, and offered it the other breast.

“Feeding all eight is going to be a nightmare,” she groaned as the other six whimpered for their turn. “How do hollows do it?” she asked.

“Most females have more tits at this stage to match their base form,” Starrk answered.

“If it’s not too bold, I could help,” Karin offered hesitantly. “Listening to them whimper has me leaking,” the girl groused.

“Please,” she begged without hesitation. “Wet nurses are a thing in noble families,” she pointed out when Karin looked surprised at her easy capitulation.

“I didn’t realize you were nobility.”

“Lesser.”

Karin took two of the pups and offered them her breasts. They latched on like hungry leeches. Starrk used his muzzle to sooth the remaining four while the first four were feed.

“What I wouldn’t give for eight bottles and a case of formula,” Karin sighed.

“I just hope Grimmjow makes it back before your six are born, or we will spend our entire time on our sides with offspring at our breasts.”

“And no cream to help them from getting rubbed raw. Starrk, you are going to have to hunt. Giving birth and breast feeding take a lot of energy.”

“When the pups are fed and settled, I will hunt.”

Once all eight were feed, they curled up together on the makeshift bed. Nanao took one side of the bundle while Karin took the other, using their own body heat to keep the pups warm. Starrk took the soiled sack, filled with soiled sand, out with him so the den wouldn’t keep the smell to alert predators. Nanao was asleep before her mate had even exited the tunnel.

Two days of travel and he could finally see Las Nochas in the distance. The sight lit a fire under his tail, and he ran faster, giving up stealth. If the Quincy fucks caught up to him, the resulting battle would be obvious to the city and he _wanted_ to be found by the patrols on their side. He even let his reiatsu loose. The time for stealth was over. By now, Nanao would have given birth to her cubs, or was in the process of it. Starrk would need to hunt, and that would leave their mates vulnerable.

Since his senses were at full alert, he noticed the enemy with enough time to dodge the hail of projectiles aimed his way. He retaliated with a cero and moved to the defensive. Four of the fuckers, including what looked like one of the sternritter as their leader.

_Well fuck,_ he cursed. As an arrancar he could have taken them, as an adjucus the elite Quincy were, he was reluctant to admit, out of his league.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in,” the leader laughed.

“As if I have never heard that one before,” he scoffed.

“You are lucky, his Majesty would sooner you be taken alive if possible, or you would already cease to exist.”

“Would sooner die than go back,” he growled. “You going to fight me one on one or hide behind your troops like a pussy.”

“You are not worthy of personal attention. Take him.”

The four charged at him, ripping a snarl from his lips as he dodged their projectiles and tried to fight back. Four on one was just not fair when they were ranged, and he was melee. They didn’t give him any chance to charge or fire a cero. Closing on one just left him open to the other three. It galled him to do it, but he ended up tucking his tail and trying to run. He had a mate and cubs to return too.

He felt it first, and almost relaxed in relief as black and yellow power flowed over him. The Quincy barely had time to register someone new was on the field before all four lap dogs were dead and the leader was cursing up a storm while trying to run.

“Get back here runt,” Kenpachi shouted happily, chasing after the fleeing Quincy.

“Grimmjow?” Ichigo stared at him in shock.

“Took you long enough, Kurosaki,” he growled, panting.

The hybrid was suddenly beside him, running hands over his hide as if to assure he was truly there. “I thought you were gone,” Ichigo whispered.

“Che, I am too stubborn to go out,” he growled.

Ichigo just continued to stare at him and he was reminded how Karin had told him his supposed death had affected his partner.

“Oi, what’s with those eyes,” he snarled. “You look defeated.”

“Sorry, a lot has happened while you been missing. I’ve lost…”

“She’s fine,” he snapped.

“What?”

“Karin, she’s fine. Stupid fuckers thought it would be amusing to try and feed her to me.” He decided it would be a good idea to leave out the fact he hadn’t recognized her right away and would have eaten her if she hadn’t been a tough bitch.

“She’s alive?” hope lit up those brown eyes.

“Starrk’s guarding the girls in a safe den. We figured it would be safer if I approached since most of you know me.”

“Girls?” a new voice joined the conversation.

“Girls,” he confirmed. He glanced over at the approaching taichou with long, white hair. Fuck if he could remember the guy’s name.

Behind them, the backlash of battle raised up winds and sands and he could still hear the manic laughter of Kenpachi, the only Shinigami he could honestly relate with. He felt more power approach and growled, turning to face the danger.

He needn’t have bothered. Reinforcements from Las Nochas had arrived, and a secondary battle kicked off. Good, he was not in the mood to be tangled up with these fuckers when his mate and unborn children would need him.

“C’mon,” he ordered, turning to face the way he’d come. Kenpachi’s battle blocked his intended path and, with a growl of frustration, he took off on a roundabout way to bypass it.

“How far away are they?” Ichigo demanded.

“About two days travel,” he answered.

“When was the last time you ate?” Ichigo demanded.

“Don’t know. Not important.”

“Like hell it isn’t,” a hand grabbed his tail, pulling him to an embarrassing halt as he landed on his chest.

“The fuck, Kurosaki?” he snarled.

“Wait here a sec,” Ichigo ordered sternly, before disappearing.

“It would be wise to bring provisions for such a long journey. While we wait for Ichigo-kun to return, can you please clarify what you meant by ‘girls?’”

“Starrk is guarding the girls until I can get back. His mate was just about whelping, and it was too dangerous to keep moving, so we denned up.”

“Mate?”

“Black hair, light blue eyes, killer with kido. Something about being attached to the guy that almost killed Starrk,” he shrugged.

“Nanao,” the man breathed in shock.

“Sounds right. She’s Starrk’s mate, not mine.”

“Mate?”

“How about we save all the explanations for later. I hate telling a tale more than once,” he growled.

“Very well.”

Ichigo returned at that moment, a large sack thrown over his shoulder and a large orb of pure reishi in his hands.

Damn if he didn’t slobber over the sight of that and devoured it like a starved man, which he was. Food hadn’t been the best on the run, and he’d been running a lot in the last little bit.

“Lead the way, Grimmjow-san.”

He took off again, doing his best to ignore the battles taking place not far away.

“How is Karin?” Ichigo demanded.

“Fine last I saw her. She’s got a fire that makes yours look like a candle. She’s a tough bitch, gave those fuckers what for,” he laughed. “Even knew who I was. Didn’t know you talked about me so much, Kurosaki.”

“You said they were trying to make you eat her?” Ichigo asked.

“Yeah. The fuckers got an arena of Adjucus, and they feed us their prisoners for their own entertainment. Tossed her in when it was my turn to feed. From what I understand, Hashwald didn’t know who she was when he caught her, thought it was one of your human friends instead.”

“Are there other prisoners there?” the other man asked.

“Hm, yeah, Hanatarou is there, he’s the one that got the girls some food and supplies to help our escape, and some others they keep as slaves to clean the pit and help with the births.”

“Births?” both men asked.

“Talk later, save your breath for running,” he growled in annoyance.

They did so for a while, before Ichigo grew impatient and picked him up, throwing him over a shoulder.

“The fuck, Kurosaki,” he snarled, trying to rend the hybrid’s back with his claws and only succeeding in tearing the black cloth.

“You are too slow,” Ichigo grunted.

He definitely didn’t yelp as Ichigo launched into a shunpo so fast it left his head reeling. Even the other taichou could barely keep up as they raced across the sands at a speed Starrk had once been able to pull before his regression. What had taken him two days took Ichigo and his companion twelve hours.

“Oi, put me down, we are almost there,” he snarled.

They came out of shunpo and Ichigo set him down. His stomach and back were sore from the undignified position and he took a moment to stretch out before looping towards the den. He hated to admit it, but the rest and food had helped him recover a fair amount.

“Starrk’s mate should have whelped, so he might be testy,” he warned.

“Whelped?” Ichigo asked.

“You’ll see. Let me go first.”

He led the way to the small entrance to the den, poking his head cautiously into the tunnel.

“Starrk?” he called.

“Here,” the coyote answered, coming around the bend. “Help?” he asked.

“Yeah. Kurosaki and some white-haired guy.”

Starrk sniffed the air before letting out a sigh and moving up to join him. He took his head out of the tunnel so Starrk could exit.

“You are looking different, Starrk-san. We thought you were dead.”

“One as old as I do not die so easily, thought Lilynette did not make it out of the battle. I hold you to no blame though. Aizen made us fight, though I desired not to. To either side was death.”

“Shunsui was not happy about the battle either, but we all had our duties.”

“True enough. He took Lilynette from me, and I have now taken Nanao from him. She is mine. We are even. Come, Jushiro-san, Ichigo-san, the girls will be happy to see you.”

“All eight make it?” Grimmjow asked.

“All eight made it,” Starrk grinned, tongue lolling out and tail going a mile a minute.

“Surprised you still have your hide,” Grimmjow laughed.

“They are too busy caring for the pups, for now at least. They are hungry.”

“I don’t doubt it,” he chuckled.

Ichigo was the first into the tunnel, followed by Starrk. After a moment, Jushiro crawled in next, leaving him to enter last.

“THE FUCK!” Ichigo’s roar echoed down the tunnel.


	17. Chapter 17

It was hard to stay still knowing Ichigo was right outside and Grimmjow had returned faster than expected. The unknown reiatsu awoke the pups, causing them to shiver in distress. Subtle, her brother had never been. Starrk left to meet them.

“Ukitake-taichou is here too,” Nanao noted hesitantly.

“Isn’t he the one that helped destroy the fire bird thing they tried to execute Rukia with?” Karin asked.

“Yes.”

“Then relax, I doubt this is going to bother him too much,” Karin shrugged. “Besides, Ichi-nii is here and like hell he would let anything happen to us. Grimmjow, on the other hand,” she sighed, looking down at her very obviously pregnant belly. There was no hiding that.

Nanao picked up two of the pups and offered them a breast each, letting them suckle to calm down. She held two more while Karin copied her, setting two to breast and two to cuddle. It helped calm them down.

Finally, the sound of someone coming down the tunnel reached their ears and they glanced at the entrance. Karin vibrating in joy and Nanao in nerves. Ichigo pulled himself up, his eyes going right to them. His mouth dropped open in shock as he took in her mostly naked appearance, swollen belly, and the four pups she held: two eating.

“THE FUCK!” he shouted in shock.

“Nice to see you too, Ichi-nii,” Karin returned the greeting. “Relax, these eight belong to Nanao and Starrk.”

“I am not an idiot Karin, you are feeding and have a belly that screams you are pregnant,” Ichigo growled dangerously.

“It was be fucked or be killed,” she shrugged. “I chose ‘be fucked’ so I could return the favour,” she offered him a feral grin.

He made some interesting gibbering sounds as the rest made it into the den. Starrk was curled up by Nanao in seconds, nosing his pups happily and offering them his body heat. Karin set the two that had finished feeding down in the cuddle pile and assisted the other two in finding her nipples.

Grimmjow prowled around to join her, working his way behind to act as a backrest. She sighed in relief and shuffled more comfortably.

“May I see one?” Jushiro asked gently, eyeing the pups.

“Of course,” Nanao was quick to assure. “We haven’t named them yet and their eyes haven’t opened.”

Jushiro moved in slowly and sat down before them, carefully accepting one of the pups Nanao handed over. It made little whimpering grunting noises until Jushiro cuddled it to his body, offering his own body heat.

“He is so adorable,” Jushiro gushed. “Eight you said?”

“Yeah,” Nanao blushed before clearing her throat. “I know the laws, but Karin is right. We had to stay alive so we could escape and bring back the information to report.”

“Relax, Ise-san. We can’t afford to be executing officers over archaic laws. Shunsui would never permit it and even if he tried, we all know Ichigo-kun would tear us apart again, and we can ill afford that right now.”

“Exactly what I’ve been telling her.”

“Wait, if Starrk took Nanao as his mate…” Ichigo trailed off.

“Sorry Ichi-nii, it’s Karin Jeagerjaques now,” she smirked at him.

“I am going to skin you for daring to dishonor my sister,” Ichigo growled, dark energy rising around him as golden eyes glared at Grimmjow and a hand grasped the handle of his zanpakuto.

“Oh can it, Ichi-nii. I am not a child, I chose to do this, and not that it is any of your business, but Grimmjow was hardly my first and not even my third. Best sex I’ve ever had though, despite the logistic issues,” she mused.

“Do you know how many you will have?” Jushiro asked.

“Six,” she winced. “Can you freak out later, nii-san, because right now all I want to do is eat, sleep, and get somewhere safe. Please tell me you guys brought food.”

“Yeah,” Ichigo numbly handed her the bag.

“What’s in there?” Nanao asked desperately.

“Onigiri,” Karin sighed in relief, handing several to Nanao to tare open and eat.

“When did you eat last?” Jushiro asked concerned.

“Real food, over a week ago. Whatever Starrk and Grimmjow hunted down, few hours ago.”

“You’ve been eating hollow meat!?” Ichigo demanded.

“It was that or starve, and frankly, I like being alive,” Karin snapped. “Now stop freaking out and get your ass over here and hug me. I’ve missed you, you stupid lout.”

Ichigo finally seemed to shake off his daze as he closed the distance and pulled her into a tight hug. She didn’t have tears threatening the corner of her eyes, some sand had just gotten caught.

After they ate, rested, and Nanao gave her report to Jushiro over their imprisonment and what was going on at the coliseum, both Jushiro and Ichigo were suitably horrified when they learned about the rapes, they packed the pups into sacks and started the last lag of the journey to Las Nochas. This was after Starrk made it clear he would not be separated from pups or mate and trying to would result in his displeasure. Jushiro assured the former Arrancar it would be fine. Ichigo had been wise enough to not even whisper the idea of separating his sister from his former partner.

Karin had a hard time walking, her ankle still not fully healed and her front end rather heavy, and spent most of the time riding Grimmjow’s back; something that amused her brother a little at least. It took them three days to reach the fortress, where they were met with a rather large crowd. Foremost amongst them was her father and Shunsui. Neither man waited for them to finish their approach before appearing before them in a flash of Shunpo.

“Nanao-Fukutaichou, reporting in, Soutaichou,” Nanao saluted the best she could with a squirming bag of pups clutched to her chest.

“So formal, Nanao-chan,” Shunsui whined.

“Karin, my beautiful, daugh… what the hell!!” Isshin shouted as her condition became clear to her father.

“Can it, goat face, I’m fine,” Karin snapped. “Now if you don’t mind, our backs are killing us and we are all starving, exhausted, and would kill for a bed and shower.”

“Oh gods, a shower,” Nanao moaned. “I got sand in places I don’t even want to think about.”

“And a bed. I am tired of sleeping on sand and sandstone. I want a pillow damn it,” Karin added. “My back and crotch are killing me, no offense love, but your spine is murdering me. I am going to have bruises for weeks.”

“You think it’s comfortably having your bony hips dig into my back?” Grimmjow grunted back as they walked past the stunned men who had run out to meet them.

“Karin-chan!” Nel shouted joyfully as the Vasto Lorde came racing towards them. “Are those cubs?” she squealed, spotting the wriggling sacks. “And you’re expecting cubs too?” Nel added, eyeing Karin’s obviously distended belly.

“Yes to both. Nel, where is the nearest bath, food and bed, somewhat in that order?” Karin asked exhausted.

“We will go to my wing,” Grimmjow declared. “Your wing is a mess, Starrk.”

“A pity.”

“Starrk? That is you!” Nel cried with glee and gave the coyote a hug. “Look at you, all four legs and hanging around people. You will have to tell me about it. Go ahead, get your mates and pups to a den. I’ll see about food.”

Behind them, Isshin and Shunsui managed to regain some composure as Jushiro filled the two men in on the basics of what they had learned with Ichigo adding the occasional comment.

An hour later, Nanao and Karin were finally curled up on a large bed with bellies full of real food and hair damp from a long, wonderful, warm shower. What more, Nel did some searching around, and four cubs were now contently suckling milk from a bottle while the other four breast fed. It was a huge relief.

“It’s so good to see you. Ichigo took Grimmjow’s loss hard,”

Grimmjow snorted from his place resting beside Karin.

“but losing Karin nearly destroyed him. Yuzu took it hard too and Isshin, well, he probably took it the hardest,” Nel reported.

“Hmm,” Karin agreed sleepily. “Sorry Nel-chan, it’s been a very, very, very long couple of months, and the last few weeks have been a nightmare. All I want to do right now is sleep and restore some strength before my own litter arrives.”

“I noticed a few Arrancar hanging around that were not here before,” Starrk commented from his place curled beside Nanao.

“Yes, thanks to Yuzu-chan,” Nel beamed.

“I’m sorry, what?” Karin looked at Nel confused.

“Urahara-san figured it would take a Quincy to undo what a Quincy did, and since Yuzu-chan was such a caring and loving soul of healing, she managed to undo the damage after a bit of training by your… uncle I think he is. I am not sure on the relationship there.”

“We can return to two feet?” Grimmjow asked hopefully.

“That or keep going and evolve on your own,” Nel shrugged. “Honestly, what is holding you back Starrk?” Nel frowned at him. “Even now your power far outstrips my own.”

“Knew it,” Grimmjow grunted annoyed.

“That hell hole and on the run was not the place or time to leave myself, and the pack, vulnerable,” Starrk sighed.

“What about you, Grimmjow?” Nel asked him. “You are close, I can sense that,” she offered him a smile.

“I’ll think about it.”

“You will keep getting stronger either way, won’t you?” Karin asked.

“I should,” he agreed after thinking about it for a moment.

“And last longer than a few minutes?” she asked with an eyebrow waggle.

“Fuck yeah, maybe I will,” he chuckled. “Show you what I can really do.”

“Don’t want to hear it,” Nanao protested.

“Prude,” Karin stuck her tongue out before a mischief gleam touched her eyes, “or is Starrk just not any good.”

“What! He’s fine,” Nanao defended with a blush.

“Not that you have anything to compare it too,” Karin continued to tease. “You should evolve Starrk, just so you can show Nanao what sex is really like.”

“That is not what I wanted to walk in hearing,” Shunsui complained as he walked into their room. “No, please do not move ladies,” he held up a hand to stop Nanao from trying to at least sit up, two pups still feeding.

“Taichou-san,” Starrk greeted, rising to his paws to stand before the pack.

“Starrk-san. I am surprised to see you alive and well.”

“I am not so easy to kill.”

“So it would seem. Jushiro gave me your report. We will be sending a strike force out within the week, assuming they don’t move.”

“They seemed arrogant enough not to,” Nanao said.

“Especially with king dick face there,” Karin added. “Make sure you plan for him. Did Ukitake-san mention how I noticed he seemed to be weaker during the night?”

Shunsui offered his head a nod in answer. “No one held in the facility, both now and formally, will be held accountable for anything that happened there.”

Nanao let out a sigh of relief and tension that had been holding the woman taunt seemed to melt away.

“When can you return to work?”

“In a few days at least,” Nanao answered.

“No,” Starrk interrupted.

“This is my job, Starrk,” Nanao protested.

“For now, Nanao Starrk, your responsibility is to our cubs. They are defenseless and cannot tend to themselves. For the next few months, they are our primary concern,” Starrk declared firmly.

“Nanao Starrk, eh?” Shunsui asked, eyes going dark.

“You took Lilynette from me, Taichou-san,” Starrk declared in a mixture of loss and smugness.

“I am not property,” Nanao snapped. “Don’t either of you dare treat me like it!”

“Men,” Karin rolled her eyes in agreement. “Oi, dick measuring contest, give it a rest,” Karin snapped at them, startling Starrk and Shunsui. “Starrk is right though, Nanao, the cubs need you. I have my own coming soon too. There is no chance in hell you are ditching me to raise fourteen cubs alone.”

“You tell ‘em,” Grimmjow purred.

“Don’t think you are getting out of this either. You are going to see Yuzu, you are getting a set of arms back, then you are going to be right here helping us. Half of this is your fault.”

“Before or after I fuck you into the ground?” he asked with a wide grin.

“Preferably, before,” Karin answered without missing a beat.

“And shall I call you Karin Jaggerjaques now?” Shunsui asked.

“What do you think?” she rolled her eyes at him. “Apparently, hollows have never heard of divorce. Besides, kitty cat here,”

“Oi,” Grimmjow protested.

“promised me the best sex of my life once he was back on two feet. I want to see if he can live up to the promise.”

“If what the numerous had to say was any indication, he should be able to,” Nel giggled, reminding them all she was still in the room with them.

“You assume he will live long enough after Isshin is through with the man who deflowered his sister,” Shunsui pointed out, crossing his arms in what was definitely not a pout over the fact he was getting his ass verbally handed to him.

“Not that it is any of yours, or theirs, business, but Grimmjow was not my first,” Karin snorted. “Nanao, on the other hand….”

“That is personal information he does not need to know,” Nanao shouted in protested as Shunsui went red. “And stop looking so smug,” Nanao grabbed Starrk by the tail and jerked him down to lay beside her, getting a yelp from her mate. “What is done is done. Starrk and Karin are right,” she admitted. “I need to take care of my children, but I can still help,” she added before Starrk could get smug. “Bring me the paperwork I know is three miles high in a few days and I will get started on it. I can still do administrative tasks, and don’t even dare to protest,” she snapped as Starrk opened his muzzle. “I am not a damsel in distress and I still have a job to do, assuming you plan on keeping me,” she looked at Shunsui.

“Yare, yare, how could I ever say no to you, Nanao-chan. I would be lost without you.”

“You were lost,” Nel deadpanned.

“Glad that’s all worked out. Now if you don’t mind, we’d like to sleep,” Karin scowled at the arguing boys.

“Oh Kami, sleep,” Nanao moaned.

“In a bed,” Karin sighed.

“With pillows,” Nanao added.

“And real clothing.” Karin adjusted her yukata to cover her as the pups detached and yawned.

“And not freezing or getting sand everywhere.”

“Clean for the first time in months.”

As if to amplify their points, Starrk and Grimmjow both let out loud yawns, showing off their impressive fangs.

“We get the point,” Nel giggled. “C’mon Shunsui, we can get a bottle of sake and you can moan to me all about losing your precious Nanao-san to the big, bad wolf.”

“Coyote,” Starrk muttered.

With clear reluctance, Shunsui let himself be pushed out of the room by Nel. The women did need some sleep. They were already drifting off before the door even closed, the pups safe in a basket nearby.


	18. Chapter 18

Apparently, breastfeeding and having young so close caused Karin to go into labour earlier than they anticipated. Fortunately, the raid seemed to have gone well with many of the prisoners and slaves freed. Among them, Hanatarou, who was thrilled to meet Nanao’s pups and was calmly assisting Karin through her own birthing process. Other than him, everyone else had been banished from the room, that included her insane father and irate brother. Yuzu was off with Grimmjow somewhere, theoretically to get him back onto two feet to keep him distracted. How Yuzu had come into her powers was not something Karin knew much about, other than most of it happened after her abduction.

“You are doing great, Karin-san,” Hanatarou praised.

“If Nanao could do this squatting in the sand on a burlap sack, I should be able to do this in a comfortable room without too much issue,” she grunted. “Starrk had to lick the pups clean.”

“I bet,” Hanatarou chuckled. “Have you thought of any names?”

“No. Nanao hasn’t even named all her pups yet.”

It was a good thing that so many were willing to help. Raising one kid alone was plenty difficult, eight was just insane. Even Shunsui was coming around, apparently not immune to the cuteness of the pups and how tenderly Starrk cared for Nanao. With something to protect, Starrk had wandered off into the dessert to return as a Vasto Lorde. She hadn’t known Espada Starrk, but his appearance apparently hadn’t changed other than he appeared to be more awake, whatever that meant.

Something inside her shifted, and Karin’s thoughts were returned to the ordeal at hand. The first cub was coming. Not that she needed the guidance, but it did help to have Hanatarou beside her as she pushed the first cub out. It hurt, not as much as she expected a fully-grown human baby would, but it wasn’t painless. It was also faster, which she did expect given Nanao’s births.

The first arrived, mewing as it was expelled from her body. Hanatarou was quick to retrieve, clean and hand her the first cub, this one black with the blue fluff of an early mane. She was surprised to discover it was female. She didn’t have much time to admire the cub as the next one started its journey. Three hours later, she admired the six cubs as two of them fed from her and one more took a bottle. Hanatarou was bottle feeding the other three.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when someone barged their way into the room, sky blue hair wild and piercing blue eyes boring into her. He had a toned body that was ripped, and she found herself looking it up and down, appreciating the form.

“Like?” Grimmjow asked with a wide smirk.

“Love,” she confirmed. “Let me see?” she demanded with an eyebrow wriggle.

Hanatarou gave a rather cute ‘meep’ and slammed his eyes closed as Grimmjow let his hakama fall to the floor, letting Karin see all of him.

“I see the curtain matches the drapes,” she purred.

He spun around, letting her see all of him before sauntering up to her and leaning down to give her a kiss.

“I been waiting to do that,” he purred.

“I can think of other things I been waiting to do,” she responded, letting her bottle free hand run up his inner thigh to card through his blue curls, bypassing the part of him she knew he wanted her to touch.

“Not for a few days!” Hanatarou protested. “You just gave birth.”

“You have no sense of adventure, Hanatarou. There are a lot of other things to do that do not include vaginal sex.”

“Oh?” Grimmjow asked intrigued.

“Indeed,” she purred at him, tangling her free hand into his hair and pulling him down for a deep kiss. “I’ll tell you more later, when I won’t break poor Hana-chan’s mind.”

“I look forward to it.”

“I think they are done feeding,” Hanatarou offered meekly, removing the mostly empty bottles and handing over his three cubs to their sire before fleeing the room.

“Tell the old man and Ichi-nii they can visit first thing tomorrow morning,” Karin called after his back.

Hanatarou offered an affirmative before firmly closing the door to the room behind him.

“So, these are them eh?” Grimmjow asked, looking at the six cubs he’d sired. They were all sorts of colours and as weak as any newborn kitten; eyes closed and barely able to move.

“Yeah,” she agreed, letting the exhaustion from the birthing process seep into her.

“They are gorgeous,” he declared. “Ready to sleep?” he asked her seriously.

“I am,” she reluctantly admitted. “But find myself wanting to explore this a bit more.” She let a hand trail up his chest.

“You have all of eternity to explore this,” he chuckled amused. “Sleep. You need it. I’ll watch the cubs for a while.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. The cubs were set into a basket and she curled up into bed, asleep almost at once.

Grimmjow watched Karin sleep, the queen of his cubs looking beautiful in her exhausted slumber. She had done him good. Assured his mate was safe and well, he turned his attention to the slumbering cubs. All six were the picture of health.

Redressing and picking up the basket, he made certain Karin was truly out, before heading to the door and slipping into the hallway. Waiting ever so impatiently was a grinning Yuzu. He owed his mate’s twin for her assistance in overseeing his return to two feet. He probably could have done it in time, but he needed his hands to help with his cubs. He needed to fight at a higher level than his Adjucus state if he was going to pay the Quincy bastards back. His exclusion from the raid had rankled.

“They are so adorable,” Yuzu squealed quietly so as not to disturb cubs or sister.

“Very,” he agreed gruffly.

“Can I hold one?” she asked.

“Pick one,” he shrugged.

It took her several minute before settling on one to pick up. The cub grunted a little, but otherwise didn’t protest as Yuzu cradled it to her chest. Yuzu smelled a lot like her sister, so his cubs were not too disturbed by the stranger. He was right there too.

“Ichi-nii and tousan are going to be so jealous I got to see and hold them first,” she chuckled.

“I should let your old man see them next, just to piss Ichigo off,” he smirked.

“Oh, you already put a few grey hairs on him,” Yuzu chuckled. “He did take your ‘death’ hard, and Karin’s even harder. Rukia-nee had to punch and kick a lot into him to keep him moving. He was so convinced he was a failure,” Yuzu sighed.

“Idiot is always taking everyone else’s problem onto his shoulders, as if we can’t stand on our own,” he growled in annoyance.

“Rukia-nee told him something similar,” Yuzu chuckled. “Karin sure seems to like you.”

“She is strong. I am strong,” he shrugged.

“Sure it isn’t just the sex? How did that even work?” she asked curiously.

“With some interesting positioning,” he answered. “Honestly, I can’t wait to get her between the sheets now I got a real cock back.”

Surprisingly, Yuzu chuckled and shook her head, not at all concerned over his crude language or the subject matter. “I got a feeling you will be much better than her other partners,” Yuzu mused, looking him up and down in apparent appreciation.

They chatted for a little longer before Yuzu reluctantly returned the cub to the basket and he retreated to the room he shared with Karin. She was still out cold so he set the basket down nearby and curled up behind her, pleased to have hands again so he could pull her against him and finally, FINALLY, map her body in a way he’d been dreaming of for some time.

Her body was toned, and her breast fit perfectly in his hands. Her hips slotted right in between his, the curve of her spine nestled against his chest. Oh, he was loving this already. He felt himself stir and had to tamp down on the desire. She needed rest and the cubs would likely be up soon to feed again. He waited this long to get her under him in this form, he could wait a little longer. Besides, changing had taken a fair amount of his strength and he could use the rest too.

They did have the rest of their lives ahead of them to look forward to after all.

It was a week later. Isshin watched the cubs as they napped, leaving Karin alone with Grimmjow and fully recovered. She had been waiting for this, and the predatory grin Grimmjow was giving her suggested he was more than ready to devour her.

“Think you can handle me?” he challenged.

“Please, I’ll have you begging before you know it,” she returned with a confident smirk.

The challenge issued, they let their clothing fall to the floor as they walked towards each other. Their mouths clashed, lips locked and tongues battling. His hands went to her ass, grasping and kneading it in his palms. Her hands went to his back, letting her nails rake down the toned flesh with the knowledge she could apply as much force as she wanted and never break the skin. His erection poked at her belly and he ground himself against her to get friction on his straining shaft.

She slipped a leg behind his ankle and pushed, tripping him to land on the futon behind him. She followed him down, straddling his hips and using her nails to tease his nipples. One of his hands abandoned her ass to card the black hairs surrounding her sex before inserting a finger inside.

Karin let out a moan of pleasure before leaning down to capture his lips with her own. She purred against him and started to ride his fingers while arching her back and giving him a very pleasant view of her bouncing breasts. He couldn’t resist taking the left in one hand and the nipple of the right into his mouth. How he had missed fingers.

“Ready for me?” he asked, unwilling to wait any longer.

“You had better be as good as you boast,” she smirked at him.

“Challenge accepted.”

He shifted up and lined up with her entrance. With a solid thrust, he buried himself in her ready body. She arched above him and let out a load groan of pleasure as she was filled. The sound went right to his groin and he shivered in delight and male pride. He rolled them over so he was on top, enjoying the view of her naked body spread out below him, hair strewn across the futon.

“Fuck, don’t just sit there. Move you bastard,” Karin snarled up at him.

He smirked at her as he did, moving just a little. It was far harder than it should have been to move so little. Her nails dug into his ass and pulled him into her as she moved up to meet him. That was all it took to break what little control he had, and he began to pound into her, grunting and gasping in pleasure as her moist, hot, tight, tunnel massaged his straining shaft.

Her hands moved from his ass and her nails raked his back once more. He didn’t know if he was thankful or not that she didn’t have claws to cut him up a little. She gasped and writhed beneath him, letting out the occasional louder gasp of pleasure.

He rolled her hips up a little, getting a new angle that let him dive deeper into her. Now she was almost screaming as they gyrated against each other. He wasn’t so quiet himself, letting out feral snarls of pleasure and eyeing the junction on her neck where her pulse beat. So vulnerable, so trusting. It made him feel something he’d never felt before and instead of the desire to tear out such a vulnerable throat, he wanted to worship her and relish in the display of trust not so easily given in his world.

That almost blew his mind. Karin trusted him. Trusted he wouldn’t harm her or their cubs. Trusted he would have her back. Trusted that he would be able to provide for her and cubs.

He lost it than. With a feral howl, he buried himself as deeply into her as he could, his cock pulsing in release as white exploded behind his eyes. Something wet was latched on his shoulder and when the last shudder of release left him, he realized Karin had chomped down on his left shoulder to silence her own scream of release.

He left himself inside of her as they panted for breath, exhausted from the intensity of his release. This was way better than he’d anticipated. Pulling away, he caught her licking something red from her lips as she stared up at him with an intensity that threatened to roll him over and continue.

A hand went to his shoulder and came back with a drop of red. In the throes of passion, she had managed to puncture through just enough to draw some blood. The wound was already healing.

“Well?” he asked once he had regained his breath.

“It was good, but I think I will need to sample it some more before forming an opinion,” she answered.

He laughed before forcing himself to roll out of bed, hunting for his clothes. The cubs would need to be feed again soon, and he didn’t want his insane father-in-law teaching them strange shit. Karin just stretched out on the bed in content bliss and he paused only to bend over and share a kiss. She could use every ounce of rest she could snag. He was on the front lines again; she was in the den tending to a small army of boundless energy full cubs.

He stepped out into the hallway and right into a first that left him lying on the floor, staring up through bloody eyes at his assailant.

“That was for sleeping with my sister,” Ichigo grunted down at him.

“She propositioned me,” he countered with a smirk.

“You didn’t have to say yes, you imbecile. Now you two idiots have put thoughts into Yuzu’s head,” he snarled.

That was news to him.

“What’s wrong Kurosaki? Don’t like the idea of an army of nieces and nephews?” he demanded.

“The six you two dropped on us is enough,” Ichigo grunted. “Now go get your brats before goat-face corrupts them and I expect to see you in the training grounds in an hour.”

“Who died and made you king of Las Noches?” he demanded, climbing to his feet and wiping more blood from his face. Why did face wounds have to bleed so damn much?

“You did. Nel went on some long speech about how the city was traditionally ruled by a King and Queen before Barragan went all power hungry and since you fucked off and died, she rose as Queen and declared me as King since I was hollow enough as far as she was concerned. Rukia is half amused and half not, and I don’t like it when she’d not amused. So for fuck sakes, take your damn title back, King, so I can go back to my normal life.”

“Sure,” he smirked, letting it grow as he added the next part. “It will be highly amusing to see you call Karin ‘your majesty’ every time you see her.”

“I don’t even call Nel that, what makes you…” Ichigo trailed off and glared at him as the hybrid caught on. “Oh fuck no, I take it back.”

“Too late. You already relinquished your title, and since I am mated, unlike Nel, my mate steps up as Queen. You might want to go find your ice princess and hide before Nel realizes what you’ve done,” he laughed.

“There is no way Karin is spending the rest of her life here,” Ichigo snarled.

“Or, how about, you go get our cubs,” Karin snapped at him, causing him to flinch, “and you realize I am an adult capable of making my own decisions, and it is not your place to tell me what I may or may not do with it,” she turned on her brother.

He definitely did not slink down the hall under her heated gaze, and he definitely didn’t snicker when Karin sternly told Ichigo to refer to her as ‘your majesty’ when the fool tried to argue with a pissed off mother.


	19. Chapter 19

Nanao had not been surprised at the amount of paperwork Shunsui dropped off to the quarters she was sharing with Starrk in Soul Society. The former Espada didn’t care where they were, just so long as they were together. Karin, now Queen of Las Noches, had an army of volunteers to care for her cubs. Nanao didn’t have as many assistants, but she also didn’t need to worry about her babysitters potentially mistaking her pups as a light snack.

Shunsui was silently fuming about her mating with the former Espada, but there was nothing he could really do about it and he was thankful for the added strength in defending the realm from Quincy. It was amazing how quickly the cowards fled when Starrk arrived at a battle. Starrk’s reiatsu alone was poisonous to the Quincy and often he only had to show up on the field to kill most of the cannon fodder. The Quincy would break upon his reiatsu like waves against a cliff.

With little to do and unable to venture far from the eight pups under her care, the paperwork was a welcomed distraction. Starrk, for his part, seemed content to nap in the nearest sunbeam with their pups unless called for to point his guns at invaders. With access to reliable resources, they even managed to find formula that the pups could drink from bottles, making feeding less painful, and something Starrk could participate in.

“Nanao-san may I enter?” Jushiro called softly from the doorway so as not to disturb any sleeping pups.

“Of course,” she called back with a soft smile.

Jushiro was a godsent. He got along well with Starrk and adored the pups, more than willing to take bottles and pups to help feed, and even watch them to give both her and Starrk a break when needed. Jushiro was, perhaps, the only person in Soul Society that Starrk trusted, other than herself of course. Something to do with Lilynette from what little he had shared with her.

“Don’t tell me he hasn’t let you leave your quarters still?” Jushiro asked as he sat down beside her, eyes drifting to the basket of slumbering pups.

“Not directly,” she sighed, wishing they were talking about Starrk. “Some of this stuff belongs to the fourth and seventh seat,” she grumbled, holding up one of the offending documents.

“I see.”

“Pick a few,” she smiled at him, watching as he gleefully picked up two of the pups to curl in his chest without disturbing their slumber. They were so accustomed to his reiatsu they didn’t even stir and even nestled deeper into his inviting warmth.

“They are so soft and warm,” he sighed happily. “When did they eat last?”

“An hour ago,” she answered.

“Go return those forms to where they belong, and if you get lost on the way back, I won’t complain,” he offered.

“Thank you, Ukitake-taichou. Please make sure you pick up some burn cream when you leave, he’s going to need it,” she growled as she gathered all the reports and stormed out.

She returned the unfinished paperwork to the proper recipients before marching into the main office with the finished pile. She set them gentle on the desk before picking up four bottles of unfinished sake and walking over to the slumbering man taking a nap in the sun. Without warning, she smashed three in quick succession on his head.

“Aie, the sake! Nanao-chan how….”

“Shut it,” she snapped at him. “I am not, nor was I ever, your ‘Nanao-chan.’ Nor am I your babysitter. I am a distinguished officer who is now also a mother and do not have the time nor the patience to deal with a man child. So, either step up, or I am gone. I have my own children to raise with a man that actually respects me for my skills and impute. I also have a standing invitation to join the court in Las Noches, and you are very sorely tempting me to take the job offering. So either grow up, or lose me completely!” She smashed the fourth on him before storming out.

“Nanao-chan,” Shunsui cried, scrambling to his feet to chase after her.

She responded by throwing a fire based kido at him, watching in satisfaction as his sake-soaked clothing quickly caught fire. He let out a yelp and jumped into the nearest source of water, which happened to be a rather muddy pond that had been left unkempt during the wartime status. He came out singed, missing his hat, and covered in foul smelling mud and algae.

She turned her back on him and kept storming away as he wadded quickly through the muddy pond, peeling off the layers of his singed clothing and trying to catch up with her. She knew she couldn’t outpace him with shunpo, so settled for storming away. He pulled himself out of the pond and ran up to her, cursing the soaked hakama that tangled up his legs.

“Unless the next words out of your mouth are, ‘I apologize for my improper behavior, Starrk-fukutaichou, and will rectify my improper behavior immediately,’ I do not want to hear it,” she snapped at him before he could dare to speak, taking dark satisfaction at the way he flinched when using her new family name.

Before he could speak, Starrk suddenly appeared before them, the sound of his sonido arriving half a second after his arrival, and gracing Shunsui with a frown before turning his attention towards her.

“I felt your power flare, what is going on?” he asked concerned.

“You have corrupted my sweet Nanao-chan,” Shunsui pouted at him like a perturbed child.

“Seems more to me like you insulted her capabilities… again,” Starrk noted, eyeing the bedraggled looking man.

“When doesn’t he?” she snorted.

“I see. The pups safe?”

“Ukitake-taichou is with them.”

Knowing Starrk wouldn’t let Shunsui follow her, she finally took off with Shunpo, arriving home to a thrilled Jushiro covered in pups that were content to either nestle with him or chew on his clothing.

“Dare I ask?” Jushiro asked without turning his attention away from the pile surrounding him.

“I set him on fire,” she answered with a shrug, which earned her a raised eyebrow. “Starrk is dealing with him now.”

Jushiro laughed, before it broke off into a cough. He waved her instant concern away with a hand and quickly regained control of his breathing. “I would have loved to see that.”

“I cost him several bottles of sake. It is amazing how well alcohol fumes ignite and burn,” she smirked, just a little, before regaining her decorum.

“Was it the good stuff?” Jushiro asked.

“No, I would never be cruel enough to waste that much yen… or at least, he hasn’t pushed me that far yet. If he keeps this up for another month I may get to the good stuff.”

“It hurt him pretty hard thinking you were not just dead, but had your soul obliterated by an arrow,” Jushiro defended his friend.

“I understand. He is not the only one to have suffered though. Imagine being helpless while being forced to watch your subordinates be torn apart by hollows and worse, be raped by them. Karin and I got damn lucky. I wouldn’t be here if it were not for her or Starrk. I would be just another soundless soul in the collection of a Quincy slave.” The admission made her shiver and she rubbed her arms. Everything had been in such a rush that it was only now that she had some time to contemplate everything she had witnessed and been done to her.

It hit her hard, and she started to shake. All the bottled-up emotion and stress and horror suddenly came flying at her, and she broke down onto the floor in racking sobs. Images of people being killed and torn apart with blood spurting everywhere and staining the sand into bloody mud hounded her thoughts. The horror of blood spurting when Jackal jerked away to kill the boar that had charged him and the blood curling scream that had accompanied it.

She hadn’t heard what happened to the other women and hollows that had been held there. Shunsui had refused to let her see the files or talk to her about it. Since she was so close to the situation, she was not permitted to take the case or work on it. She didn’t even know if they had been brought to Soul Society or were still in Hueco Mundo, or how many other women there were.

Jushiro abandoned the pile of pups and pulled her to him, making soothing noises and rubbing her back as she had a full mental breakdown in his lap; tears soaking the front of his uniform.

“I wondered when this was finally going to happen,” Starrk said softly as the Arrancar arrived, making no motion to take her from Jushiro. Instead, the Espada gathered their offspring up and moved to another room, leaving her to shake with wracking sobs in Jushiro’s arms. It took an hour for her to sob herself asleep.

Nanao woke the next morning feeling just wretched. Starrk was in bed with her, the pups asleep in their basket. She didn’t feel worse, but she didn’t feel much better either. If anything, she felt numb, and slightly horrified for breaking down on Jushiro like that. Her mind went to Karin and hoped the young woman was doing well. Karin had seen more than she had, although the human hadn’t known anyone there. She could only imagine how the recovered slaves from the 4th were doing.

“You must think me weak,” she muttered.

“No,” Starrk answered, letting his eyes open and rolled onto his side to stare at her. “I told that fool trying to drown you in paperwork was just causing the trauma to build up. We are lucky the dam broke here instead of on the battlefield.”

“I worry about Karin.”

He had nothing to say about that. Maybe she would call Karin and see how her fellow mother was doing. Later though. Right now, all she wanted to do was curl back up and go to sleep.

Starrk was stiff before her but loosened up and wrapped his arms around her when she nestled into his warmth. It was nice having arms to hold her secure. Although if she were honest with herself, she missed the expressiveness of his ears and tails.

She fell asleep again, her body and mind still numb and exhausted. When she awoke a second time, it was to the pups crawling over her and demanding to be fed. Starrk was just sitting down with a basket of bottles to feed them.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, scoping up pups one by one to get them settled with their meal. They were big enough now to support their own bottles.

“Tired, emotionally drained, like I don’t want to move,” she admitted after a moment.

“Hmm. I told taichou-san to stuff it and that you were mine for the next week, minimum. He lost any attempts at argument when Jushiro backed me up.”

“He’s the soutaichou now,” she pointed out absently while sitting up and stretching. It took more effort than she cared to admit, but she knew hiding in bed wasn’t going to fix anything. She had to keep moving.

“Unohana-san wanted to know when you awoke, and if you would be willing to speak to her when you did.”

“I should,” she reluctantly admitted. Everything had been so hectic since their escape that she hadn’t had a proper checkup since the one the quinces gave her. She was well overdue for one.

“You should,” he agreed. “I was told you were unlikely to be hungry, but that you need to eat, so I found some sliced fruit.”

She stared at the sliced fruit without any appetite but forced herself to eat a few pieces. It helped, more so because fruit hadn’t been on offer in the prison. There was nothing on the plate to remind her of hell. The sweet juices melted in her dry throat and she found herself finishing the plate and wishing there were more.

“You are a good man, Starrk,” she admitted. “I wish we had met differently.”

“If my presence upsets you, I can leave,” he offered softly.

“No,” she was quick to assure him. The thought of him abandoning her was surprisingly terrifying. “I meant that, I wish we had met in the market or something, without any emotional baggage attached. I don’t hate you,” she found herself assuring him.

“But not love?” he asked hesitantly.

“No,” she answered slowly and carefully. “We have only known each other for such a short time Starrk, too short for love to be a real thing.”

“You are not opposed to the idea though?” he asked almost hopefully.

“No,” she assured him with a slight blush. “Assuming, you don’t get it in your head that I will put up with being cloistered or, heaven forbids, pregnant again.”

He looked disappointed in that and licked his lips before speaking. “No more pups? Ever?”

“Maybe not forever, but not for a long time,” she stated firmly.

“So not never than?” he asked hopefully, and she could almost see his now gone tail wagging happily.

“No, not never,” she agreed. “Not anytime soon. First, these eight need to be grown up, raised, and supported. They will be able to talk and such right?” she asked, afraid of the answer.

Now that the cuteness and awkwardness of the situation was starting to wear off, terror for the future was coming back to haunt her thoughts. Would her children have anything resembling a normal life? Would they be trapped as animal-like creatures forever? Would they have the unsuitable hunger of a hollow and hunt her colleges? Would she need to cull her own children, or send them to live solo in Hueco Mundo? Would they turn on each other?

“Please speak to me,” Starrk said. “I know we have differences between our cultures and expectations. Don’t hesitate to bring them up to me or let me know if I say or do something to upset you. I will explain my view, you will explain yours, and we will work it out.”

She couldn’t help but to laugh a little, how many women wished to hear such things from their husbands and boyfriends? It was nice to know he was open to her thoughts and opinions. That he was willing to listen to her concerns and consider them.

She voiced her questions starting with one that held a large amount of her curiosity; why had he joined Aizen when he seemed so determined to avoid conflict? The answer left her feeling sad for him, and at the same time, she understood so much. She had been alone for so long, but to be alone with not even the shadows of people around you… she didn’t dare try to fathom it. It was just too terrible.

When the subject came around to her fear of the pups’ futures, he assured her if he had to return to Hueco Mundo with them, he would do so without hesitation and return to her once they were secure on their own. They would work through their problems together.

“Do not hesitate to speak to me, please. I refuse to go back to loneliness and even if the conversation is hard, at least it is a conversation,” he encouraged.

“Have I told you you’re a good man?” she asked again.

“You have, but I do not mind hearing it again,” he offered her a small smile.

They rested in silence, for all of five minutes after their heart to heart before life got in the way. Children had no concept of private time and when they wanted attention, they wanted it now.

“I will tend to them,” Starrk laughed. “You have an overdue appointment with Unohana.”

“You are a dear, Starrk. I will return as soon as I can.” She offered him a smile and a shy peck on the cheek before heading out. The look of surprise, followed by pleasure, that crossed his face was worth the daring and the blush that followed her to the 4th.

Unohana was pleased to see her and led her to a room almost immediately.

“How is Shunsui doing?” she asked hesitantly.

“Singed,” Unohana laughed. “And well he deserved it. Now, how are you doing?”

She relayed her entire morning to Unohana, who listened silently. As she got near the end, Unohana seemed pleased with Starrk’s support.

“Good. You will take the week off, and if Shunsui even mentions work to you, I will have informed Starrk to cero his ass back to the First. You are to rest and recover before you crash when we can ill afford it. I would threaten to send you back to Hueco Mundo with Starrk, but he is far too valuable here.”

“And here I thought I was the one valued,” she pouted.

“You are, but not on the battlefield as a sword. You are far more valuable wielding the swords.”

The compliment caused a blush to dust her checks. It was high praise, more so because it was coming from Unohana.

“Now, to more important business. The president would like to know when you plan on brining your pups to the next SWA meeting? There is one scheduled next week, battles permitting.”

“I will see what I can do,” she promised with a smile. If anyone could handle hollow pups, it was Yachiru.

When she returned home, it was to find the pups missing and Starrk waiting for her with a basket in hand and a small, hopeful smile.

“What is this?” she asked curiously.

“I was hoping we could go somewhere to eat,” he answered hesitantly.

_Like a date,_ she realized with a fuzzy feeling forming in her chest. He really had been listening when she spoke to him.

“I would love to,” she returned his hopeful smile with a pleased one. “Let me change into something more fitting.”

Nanao flittered into the house with a skip to her step as she threw her uniform to the floor and pulled on something a little looser and more comfortable. She even took her hairclip out and let her hair free before skipping back out.

“Did you have a place in mind?” she asked.

“Ah, no. I was hoping you would choose the place, being more familiar with the area.”

“I know just the place. How long do we have?” she asked.

“Jushiro took the pups, so I would say the next week at least,” he answered with a chuckle. “I was thinking we should name one after him.”

“I think he would like that.” Jushiro would probably actually be beyond thrilled and be honoured to have a pup named after him. With eight to name there were still a few who needed names. She wondered if Karin had named for her six yet. “We should visit Las Noches during this break. I want to make sure Karin is doing alright. She was there longer than I was and I don’t know what kind of support she has.”

“She has her family,” he pointed out. “Yuzu seemed to know what she was doing.”

That had been a shock to learn the fair-haired twin had not only developed her Quincy powers, but had done so in a way that made them a boon and no threat to the universe. To heal by stitching broken riki back together again. Kisuke was apparently lurking around with an army of equipment trying to figure it all out and she skillfully dodged all attempts at scientific inquiry from him with a smile.

She could have continued down that topic, but she was supposed to spend this week relaxing, and Starrk was reaching out to her. She decided to reach back because she really did want this to work out. Mustering up some courage, she moved closer to him and leaned against his side. He looked down at her with a look of surprise, before a small smile touched his lips and he leaned back against her, daring to rest an arm around her shoulders.

She soaked in his warmth and felt a small sigh leave her. She felt loved and appreciated for the first time in her life since Lisa. For all his incredible strength, Starrk was the gentlest soul she had ever met. The arm over her shoulder didn’t feel possessive, but supportive. As if ready to catch her should she fall instead of steadying her so she wouldn’t. She never felt that way with Shunsui, it always felt like he was shielding her. She understood it was because of the way he lost Lisa, but it still didn’t make his action right. Maybe she would ask Lisa to kick more sense into him.

The park she directed them to was quiet and slightly overgrown due to wartime neglect. It was fine and they found a spot to sit down and enjoy the meal she suspected Jushiro either made or assisted with. When she found a mangled, but still tasty, omelet roll, she settled on assisted with and informed Starrk it was very good. That earned her a light blush that tickled her tummy.

For a few hours at least, she was able to relax and she spoke about her past and hobbies. He had little to share with his solidary life but did express an interest in learning to read. She offered to teach, and he accepted. By the time they headed back to her home, she felt they had grown much closer, and she silently thanked both Unohana and Jushiro for the nudges. She hoped this worked, she could see it working when she thought about it.


	20. Epilogue

Now this was a life she could enjoy. She got to boss around everyone within her kingdom, had a half dozen children she could sick on the ones who annoyed her, and who were the most fuzzy and huggable children to ever be born. The only thing she had quickly grown tired of, was being referred to as ‘your majesty’ as it just reminded her too much of king asshole. She managed to get most to change it from ‘your Majesty’ to ‘my Queen’ or even just ‘Ma’am.’ She was pretty sure Nel kept the Majesty part just to torment her for stealing the throne, and never mind it had been Ichigo who had accidently passed it on.

Her mate ran the war effort for the hollow side against the Quincy, and she left it to him. She was not ashamed to admit when she was out of her depth, and Quincy assholes were out of her depth. Grimmjow left the running of Las Noches to her, something Nel helped her with until she was ready to take it over full time. Dealing with stuck up Shinigami, now that was often much more fun and she loved watching their feathers get ruffled. Nel had been too nice, likely fearful of making Soul Society their enemy when they couldn’t afford it. Karin knew just how desperately Soul Society needed them, and she wasn’t afraid to pull the ‘my family saved your asses’ or ‘we are nobility too, suck it up assholes’ and one of her favouriteS ‘you didn’t even know where King ‘stash was until we told you, let alone what he was doing’ cards.

From what she understood of the war, it was coming to a close. Her concerns were with her city and involved with her children, all of whom were running amok now. They could often be found in the large playroom climbing over and around what appeared to be a giant jungle gym. Several other offspring had joined them over the year, many abandoned by the pregnant women who couldn’t bring themselves to care for such offspring. She adopted each one of them and though they were abandoned by their mothers, most of their fathers remained in their lives. Her six had turned into twenty-two.

“Karin-sama, you have another wishing for an audience,” her steward announced.

“Of course. Send them in,” she agreed. When her steward said someone wanted an audience, it was because another sire had cubs abandoned by their mother and couldn’t raise them alone.

To her surprise, the Adjucus who walked into the room was one she instantly recognized. He walked confidently into the room with the woman he had mated with. The woman had a sash full of wriggling cubs and had likely given birth within the last few days.

“Jackal,” she greeted with a raised eye.

“Karin-sama,” he offered her a slight bow, not bothering to correct her name for him. “We would like to request continued residence within Las Nochas, and a further request that your sister, Yuzu-sama, grant me the honor of legs and arms to assist with the rearing of our young.” The last was said with a hint of warmth as the adjucus turned his snout to indicate the bundle.

“I see. I will think upon it. May I speak to the mother of your young?”

“Of course.” He nosed the bundle of pups before exiting, leaving the two women alone with the pups.

“You wish to remain here and with him?” Karin asked.

“I do,” she affirmed rather firmly. “If not him, it would have been another. He was attentive, caring even. It took me by complete surprise, for such traits are unheard of in a hollow. It was terrifying at first, but I come from lesser nobility, and the idea of an arranged marriage was one I grew up with. It would shame my family to return to Soul Society having mated with a hollow, and my children would likely be persecuted. Here, we are accepted. They will have friends to grow up with and we won’t be judged for events outside of our control.”

“Has he told you what hollow mating entitles?” Karin asked. “It is a lot different than what we are used to,” she warned.

“Some of it. I did put my foot down on more children for a while,” she chuckled.

Karin joined her, remembering her own firm talk about that. She called for tea and snacks as the two spoke. She liked this woman, a match for her own ‘life sucks, deal with it and move on,’ attitude. It sounded like Jackal had much of the same mindset and recalled how he had shouted at the others who had been selected for mating how they had squandered prey. He had even made sure to see her healed when she had been injured. He used his brain.

“Of course, I would never expect be given free housing. I would be honoured to help with the abandoned,” she offered sadly, hugging her own young to her, as if the thought of leaving them was abhorrent. “I don’t blame those that ran, but it still seems so wrong.”

“I agree. I could never leave my cubs, as strange as they are. How many do you have?” Karin asked curiously.

“Four. So far I only have names for two of them.”

“Try naming six, or kami forbid, Nanao’s eight. It took forever to name all six.”

“What names did you pick?”

“For the girls, Hime, Tsuki, and Masake after friends and family. For the boys, Fordt, Edrad, and Shaw, apparently after the closest things he had as friends. I didn’t pry and was simply happy we named them all.”

“Nanao-fukutaichou named hers?”

“Some of them. Shiro and Lily to name two. I honestly have a hard time remembering the rest. I got twenty-two to memorize right now,” she sighed, thinking of the abandoned. Help would be gratefully appreciated. “I will speak to my sister on your mate’s behalf. What is his name?”

“Chaccal Marron,” she answered.

They talked some more before deciding to spare the poor male’s sanity and summon him back in. Karin watched as his weary posture dropped into relief as he spotted them speaking pleasantly to each other. Later that night, after tucking in all twenty-two cubs with some help from Nel, she spooned up next to her own mate.

“Heard you had an audience today,” he grunted.

“Hmm,” she agreed. “Good news, we still have twenty-two and might have gained another mother to help, assuming Soul Society lets her go. Not that we will give them a choice in the matter,” she offered him a feral grin.

“Any excuse to pick a fight with those pansies,” he smirked back. “War’s about over. Got the bastard and his last loyal troops pinned in his ice palace. We are scheduled to leave first thing in the morning.”

“Bring me back a piece of his stupid mustache as a souvenir so I can burn it,” she ordered.

“I will see what I can do,” he promised. “We head out tomorrow to finish it.”

“In that case, I should make sure you get a good night’s rest while reminding you why you need to come back alive and in one piece. Roll over,” she ordered.

“Oh?” he rolled onto his back obediently.

She spent the next twenty minutes riding him, slowing down when he was close to release to make sure it lasted. She arched her back and let her breast bounce with her thrusts. His hands squeezed her ass, and helped to balance her, his eyes glazed over in lust. When he was ready, he flipped her over onto her back and pounded into her, hitting all the spots that had her writhing in pleasure.

_Best partner ever,_ she thought in a lust induced haze.

She finished before he did, something he always made certain of after regaining his humanoid form. They lay panting afterwards, bodies joined and entwinned. His hands moved from her hips to rub her stomach as he kissed and nipped at her neck.

“I can’t wait to see this swollen with my brood once the younglings are gone. And this time, I will get to enjoy it.”

“Decades,” she snorted. Her hand rested over his, and she reluctantly admitted she looked forward to such a thing again. Maybe this time, since he was an Arrancar again, the pregnancy would be a little less of a wild ride and closer to a proper pregnancy.

They drifted to sleep and she was awoken the next morning to his kisses as he rose to shower and dress for the mission.

“Half the stach,” she reminded him as he sheathed pantera at his hip.

He laughed on his way out the door. She rose, cleaned herself up, and retreated to the nursery to be surrounded by her children, both of blood and adopted. Most of the sires were there, taking a last moment with their offspring, before leaving to join the final assault. Her biological cubs were already rambunctiously playing, suggesting her mate had visited them while she had cleaned up else they would have crowded her upon her entrance. She let them distract her from the fear of watching the fighters leave.

Others arrived to leave their children behind until the nursery was full of the playing hybrids. Nanao was the last to arrive, coming in with the fighters from Soul Society and stopping to drop her eight off.

“Are you going to be alright?” Nanao asked her.

“I’ll fret, but I’ll survive. Be safe. I will be pissed if you manage to get yourselves killed and leave me with thirty young to care for,” she threatened with a glare.

“I will,” Nanao promised with a laugh, thought it sounded a little strained.

“Do me one favour though, will you?”

“Of course.”

“Remind Grimmjow about the mustache. He’ll know what you are talking about,” she requested with an amused smirk.

“I will,” Nanao promised.

With that, her fellow former prisoner headed out, leaving the pups behind with the others whos’ parents were going out for the final battle. The few shinigami stationed in Las Noches guarded the walls while the hollows remining behind were either in the room with her or nearby to guard their young. Yuzu attended the young with her, her cheerfull smile helping to keep the children calm as the days passed without their fathers, or mother in the case of Nanao’s offspring. The assault left the fortress vulnerable, and those that needed protection the most were secured. If the quincy were to launch an assault on Las Nochas, now would be the time they did so.

Grimmjow returned with the others a week later. He handed her a small wooden box with a smirk as if she would not notice the new scars littering his body. Still, he was alive and that was all the mattered. She accepted the box and opened it to see a small piece of bloody, dried flesh attached to a tail of black hair. She laughed and pulled him down for a deep kiss.

“Best present ever,” she murmured.

“Tell that to your brother. He was horrified and kept trying to steal it to destroy it.”

“Well, he is squeamish. Did everyone make it back?” she asked, already knowing it was highly unlikely there hadn’t been fatalities.

“Of the abandoned, just two didn’t,” he answered softly, giving her two names.

With a nod, she gathered her charges and got them straightened out before taking the five orphans aside. They were too young to understand more than, papa is not coming. She did her best to assure them she would always be there for them. Grimmjow was curled up with their cubs and she noticed Nanao and Starrk collecting their eight, Starrk all but covering his family with his body to protect them.

Sires returned to claim their offspring until it was just her family, blood and adopted. Yuzu, bless her heart, took the five orphaned and six cubs so she could properly assure herself Grimmjow was back, and trace over the new scars covering his body.

Nanao let out a content sigh as her pups nestled against her, Starrk laying behind her and tracing over a new scar that crossed her hip. It was her first one and she was rather proud of it. Starrk had let her be to fight her battle and hadn’t come flying in when it looked like she was in trouble. It cemented the idea of Starrk as a long-term partner.

It had helped with her issues, killing the Quincy who had tormented so many. It had felt liberating to be able to stand up to them in a straight up fight without having been ambushed.

“The pups are asleep,” he noted.

“Hmm,” she agreed. “Yuzu-chan offered to take them for us tomorrow night. She wanted to give her sister the first night back since she has so many to care for.” She bit her lip, wondering how he was going to take her request of possibly…

“Would you be amenable to taking a few, maybe the three who lost their sire?” he asked hesitantly.

She chuckled softly so as not to disturb their pups. “I was about to ask you if you thought we could take a few.”

“Great minds do think alike,” he purred into her neck.

“They do indeed.” She turned her head to give him a slow, deep kiss. “Love you,” She whispered.

The smile that touched his lips glowed in his silver eyes. Tomorrow, she would meet up with Karin and let her know that she and Starrk would take a few of the orphans in. They would drop their offspring off with Yuzu, and then they would remind themselves they were alive with a night of languid sex. Starrk had shown her he was good at that, and it was a thousand times better in this form than when he had been trapped as an animal.

With the war over, and Shunsui acting like a kicked puppy, she was very tempted to move here where she would have all the support, and playmates, for her children. She had some support at home, but the rank and file were not so welcoming of the odd half breeds and with the war over, and by proof of her disappearance, Shunsui had a capable fukutichou. The children here would need an education, and there were not many hollows here with one to give.

The idea of being a teacher excited her, and she knew she worked great with Karin. Just another idea to run past her friend tomorrow. Starrk didn’t complain about Soul Society, but she knew he was more comfortable here where the noonday sun couldn’t assault his naps. Unlike Shunsui, when someone needed Starrk’s attention, he didn’t whine and moan about it, but rather got up and dealt with it.

If she were honest, she felt more welcomed here than in Soul Society. Yes many of the upper ranks still respected her, but she was met with a large amount of distrust from the rank and file and worse, pity from far too many. With the war over, she had a sickening feeling Central 46 was going to start pushing back against the hollows as allies, and all the laws surrounding it. She did not want to end up in a prison with her children executed because the higher ups changed their minds and decided to punish her for doing what she had to in order to survive and bring back crucial information.

“I think I would like to move here,” she spoke the thought aloud.

“I would like that. It is more comfortable here. And someone needs to keep Grimmjow in check,” he chuckled. “Karin can not match his strength and if he doesn’t have a bone to worry, he gets testy.”

Having seen his Adjucus form, she could easily see the large feline gnawing on a bone. With Starrk’s approval, she felt more certain about her idea to move here. Shunsui didn’t need her anymore, and her pups did. As did Karin. The young woman could use an ally she knew wasn’t cozying up for rankings.

_Started this thing together, might as well end it together._

It was exactly what they did. If half the population called them both Mom, well, so what? Turned out, Karin was able to keep Grimmjow pacified enough that Starrk didn’t have to be a bone very often, which suited him just fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it. I have no further plans for this story. Sorry it took so long to write the conclusion. I just couldn't get it to work and now I give up.


End file.
